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Germama. 

Co/ossa! tyfikal figure on the A'ntioiial Monument at Niederwald. 



GERMANY 

HER PEOPLE AND THEIR STORY 



A « POPULAR « HISTORY * OF * THE 
BEGINNINGS « RISE « DEVELOPMENT 
AND * PROGRESS « OF * THE « GERMAN 
EMPIRE « FROM * ARMINIUS « TO 
WILLIAM « II * TOLD*FOR«AMERICANS 



BY y^ 

AUGUSTA HALE GIFFORD 



ILL V STRA TED 



BOSTON 
LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY 

L 



28552 



COPTRIGHT, 1899, 
BY 

LoTHROP Publishing Company. 



All rights reserved. 

TWO COPIES RKCE»VED. 



MAn221899 






^S^^ 




TYPOGRAPHY BY C. J. PETERS St SON, BOSTON. 



PRESSWORK BY BERWICK & SMITH. 






THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY 
OF MY BELOVED DAUGHTER 

KATHERINE 

AND TO THE LARGE CIRCLE OF FRIENDS WHO MADE 
HER LIFE SO BLEST. 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE researches of recorded history do not bring to 
liglit tlie deeds of its heroes without much labor 
and pains. In order to gather for this story of Germany 
and her people the most interesting facts which illumi- 
nate the character and lives of men, many of whom were 
actors in the drama of life so many centuries ago, search 
has been made everywhere, and information gained from 
all available sources. Personal relations with many peo- 
ple of this most patriotic and steadfast nation in their 
own homes have afforded the author great assistance in 
comprehending the principles and motives of action of 
their ancestors. Facts which otherwise might have es- 
caped notice have also been gathered from diplomatic 
ofhcials who for many years have made Germany their 
adopted home. By means of their acquaintance access 
has been gained to various books written in the original 
tongue, which have brought out numerous points that 
could not otherwise have been found. 

As the intensity of interest in the subject deepened, 
and the multiplicity of the characters arrayed themselves 
as in a great panorama, the limitations of space became 
more and more apparent; therefore, in place of entering 
into extensive dissertation upon the different personages 
and epochs, an attempt has been made to present the 
leading events of each age by the most striking acts 
and sayings of the individuals, while the anecdotes and 

I 



2 Introduction. 

legends have been thrown in for the purpose of exhibit- 
ing the manners and customs of the various eras, as well 
as to bring out the mainspring of action. The intention 
in the beginning was to give merely an outline of the 
whole, and through the ordinary interesting periods this 
was not found difficult; but on emerging from mediaeval 
times, the awakening of men's minds gave rise to new 
developments and to many striking events in subsequent 
epochs, so that it was impossible to condense into too 
narrow limits such eras as that of the Reformation, the 
Thirty Years' War, Frederick the Great's martial career, 
the time of Prussia's oppression ending in the War of 
Liberation, and the Franco-Prussian War with its galaxy 
of illustrious characters; but, in the end, these periods 
have been made, it is hoped, as comprehensive as many 
volumes devoted to each of these subjects in detail. 

The desirability and importance of such a work was 
first called to my attention both through participation in 
the life and good-fellowship of the German people in their 
own land and by a residence of some )-ears amongst Ger- 
man-Americans in our Republic. Therefore in writing 
the book I have had ever before me, not only the youth of 
American parentage, but a nation of young German-Amer- 
icans whose fathers and mothers, for the most part, some 
years ago came to our shores, and who themselves desire 
to obtain a knowledge from its origin of the country of 
their ancestors. It has been my hope, that, while gain- 
ing by means of this information a love of the Father- 
land, they may, at the same time, imbibe a patriotic 
sentiment with regard to our own country. For this 
reason the volume has been written from an American 
standpoint. 

A. H. G. 
Portland, December, 1898. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Chapter 1 9 

Early Germany. — From Pytheas to Pepin the Short. 
754 A.D. 

Chapter II 31 

Pepin the Short as King. — Reign of Charlemagne. 754- 
800 A.D. 

Chapter III 42 

Charlemagne crowned as Emperor. — His Death. — Com- 
ments on His Character. 800-814 a.d. 

Chapter IV 52 

The Carlovingian Line Continued. 814-912 A.D. 

Chapter V 57 

The Feudal System. — The Age of Chivalry. — The Middle 
and Dark Ages and the Renaissance. 

Chapter VI 67 

The Saxon Kings. 912-936 a.d. 

Chapter VII 75 

The Saxon Dynasty Continued. — Otto the Great. 936- 
973 A.D. 

Chapter VIII 82 

Otto II. — Otto III. — Henry II. 936-1024 A.D. 

Chapter IX 88 

The Franconian Dynasty. 1024-1056 a.d. 

Chapter X 95 

The Franconian Line Continued. 1056-1077 a.d. 

Chapter XI 104 

Henry IV. Continued. — Decline of Gregory VII. 's Power. 
— His Death in Exile. — Henry V. 1077-1 125 a.d. 
3 



4 Contents. 

FAGB 

Chapter XII iii 

The Crusades. 1096-1270 a.d. 

qHAPTER XIII 118 

Society and German Customs of Thirteenth Century. 

Chapter XIV 121 

The Hohenstaufen Dynasty. 1125-1152 a.d. 

Chapter XV 127 

The Hohenstaufen Line Continued. — Frederick Barbarossa. 
1152-1190 A.D. 

Chapter XVI 137 

Hohenstaufen Line Continued. — Death of Henry the Lion. 
— Henry VI. —Philip. —Otto IV. — Frederick II. 
I 190-1240 A.D. 

Chapter XVII 150 

Frederick II. Continued. — Conrad IV. — Interregnum. 
1240-1273 a.d. 

Chapter XVIII 161 

Rudolf of Hapsburg. — Adolf of Nassau. 1 278-1 298 a.d. 

Chapter XIX 168 

Albert of Hapsburg. — Revolt of Swiss Cantons. 1298- 
1308 A.D. 

Chapter XX 173 

House of Luxemburg. 1308-1378 a.d. 

Chapter XXI 186 

Wenzel. — Rupert. — House of Luxemburg Continued. — 
Jobst. — Sigismund. 1378-1438 a.d. 

Chapter XXII 197 

The House of Hapsburg. 1438-1493 a.d. 

Chapter XXIII 206 

Maximilian I. — Poets, Painters, and Customs of His Day. 
1493-1519 A.D. 

Chapter XXIV 218 

Charles V. — Luther and the Reformation. 1519-1521 a.d. 



Contents. 5 

PAGE 

Chapter XXV 228 

Luther at the Wartburg. — Progress of the Reformation. 
1521-1534 A.D. 

Chapter XXVI 240 

Luther's Death. — Close of the Reformation. — Abdication 
of Charles V. 1546-1556 a.d. 

Chapter XXVII 252 

Abdication of Charles V. to Thirty Years' War. 1556- 
1618 A.D. 

Chapter XXVIII 263 

The Thirty Years' War, First Period. 161S-1625 a.d. 

Chapter XXIX 272 

Thirty Years' War Continued, Second Period. 1625- 
1630 A.D. 

Chapter XXX 279 

Third Period of Thirty Years' War. — Gustavus Adolphus. 
1630-1632 A.D. 

Chapter XXXI - 289 

Wallenstein recalled. — Battle of Liitzen. — Death of Gus- 
tavus Adolphus. — Assassination of Wallenstein. 1532- 
1634 A.D. 

Chapter XXXII 299 

Death of Ferdinand II. — Ferdinand III. — End of Thirty 
Years' War. — Peace of Westphalia. — Its Results and 
Its Provisions. — State of the Country. 1635-1648 A.D. 

Chapter XXXIII 309 

Genealogy of the Brandenburg and Hohenzollern United 
Houses. — Frederick William, the Great Elector. — 
Leopold I. (Emperor). — Aggressive Wars of Louis 
XIV. — Death of Great Elector. 1648-1688 a.d. 

Chapter XXXIV 324 

Elector Frederick III. becomes Frederick I. of Prussia. — 
War of Spanish Succession. — Last Period of Louis 
XIV. 's Association with German History. — Death of 
Leopoldl. — Joseph I. — Charles VI. 1688-1715 A.D. 



6 Contents. 

PAGE 

Chapter XXXV 334 

Frederick William I. — An Absolute Monarch. — The De- 
cline of Austria. — Charles VI. —The War of the 
Polish Succession. 1714-1740 a.d. 

Chapter XXXVI 348 

Frederick the Great's Youth. 1712-1732 A.D. 

Chapter XXXVII 356 

Frederick the Great Continued. — Maria Theresa. — Fran- 
cis I. — First Silesian War. 1732-1742 a.d. 

Chapter XXXVIII 368 

War of Austrian Succession Continued. — Second Silesian 
War. — Habits of Frederick the Great in Times of 
Peace. 1742-1756 A.D. 

Chapter XXXIX 379 

The Seven Years' War. 1 756-1 763 a.d. 

Chapter XL 396 

Frederick the Great's Administration of the Government. — 
His Arbitrary Rule. — Partition of Poland. — Death of 
Maria Theresa. — Joseph II. — Frederick's Last Years 
and Death. — Progress of Germany after Seven Years' 
War. 1 763-1 786 A.D. 

Chapter XLI 410 

Frederick William II. — Relation of the French Revolution 
to Germany. — Leopold II. — Francis II. — The Be- 
ginning of Napoleon's Career in Connection with Ger- 
many. — Frederick William III. and Queen Louise. 
1786-1804 a.d. 

Chapter XLII 422 

Napoleon as Emperor. — Austerlitz. — Rhenish Confedera- 
tion. — Alexander's professed Friendship for Prussia. 

— Fall of the Holy Roman German Empire. — Jena 
and Eylau. 1804-1807 a.d. 

Chapter XLIII 428 

Friedland. — Alexander's Disloyalty to Prussia. — Treaty 
of Tilsit, and Napoleon's Interview with Queen Louise. 

— Revolt of Tyrolean Peasants and Schill's Heroism. 

— Stein, Scharnhorst, Bliicher. — Death of Queen 



Contents. y 

PAGE 

Louise. — Wagram. — Peace of Vienna. — Prussia al- 
most blotted out. 1807-1812 A.D. 

Chapter XLIV 441 

The Russian Campaign. — War of Liberation. 1812- 

1813 A.D. 

Chapter XLV 453 

War of Liberation Continued. — Battle of Leipsic. — Allies 
enter Paris. — Napoleon's One Hundred Days at Elba. 

1813-1815 A.D. 

Chapter XLVI 462 

Escape from Elba. — Waterloo. — St. Helena. — Final Ad- 
justment of the Congress of Vienna. 1815-1840 a.d. 

Chapter XLVH 473 

Frederick William IV. — Bismarck's First Appearance. — 
Revolution of 1848. — Revolt in Hungary. — William 
IV. stricken with Apoplexy. 1840-1S58 a.d. 

Chapter XLVIII 486 

Prince William as Regent. — War between Austria and 
Italy. — Death of Frederick William IV. — William I.— 
Bismarck's Policy. — Schleswig-Holstein War. 1858- 
1866 A.D. 

Chapter XLIX 497 

Austro-Prussian War. — Koniggratz. — North German Con- 
federation. — Bismarck as Chancellor. — Illustrious 
Men and Generals. 1866-1870 a.d. 

Chapter L 508 

Events Prior to the War with France. 1858-1S70 a.d. 

Chapter LI 520 

Franco-Prussian War. — Gravelotte. — Sedan. — Surrender 
of Strasburg and Metz. 1870 a.d. 

Chapter LII S32 

Siege and Capitulation of Paris. — Thirty Thousand Troops 
only enter Paris. — William I. chosen Emperor. — 
Triumphal Entry of Emperor William into Berlin. — 
First German Parliament. 1870-1871 A.D. 



8 Contents. 

PAGE 

Chapter LIII 543 

Germany and the Oriental Question. — " Kulturkampf " 
(Culture-Struggle). — The Septennat. 1871-1887 A.D. 

Chapter LIV 555 

Emperor celebrates His Ninetieth Birthday. — War- 
Clouds. — Sickness of His Son. — Emperor William's 
Death. — Frederick William becomes Emperor as Fred- 
erick ni.— Death of Frederick HI.— William H. 
declared Emperor. 1887-1888 a.d. 

Chapter LV 565 

The Reign of William II. 1887-1899 a.d. 



GERMANY: 

HER PEOPLE AND THEIR STORY. 



CHAPTER I. 

EARLY GERMANY. — FROM PYTHEAS TO PEPIN THE SHORT. 



LONG years ago, in the days of that warlike King of 
J Macedon known to us as Alexander the Great, there 
lived in Marseilles, in Southern France, a bold sea-cap- 
tain named Pytheas. 

Captain Pytheas had made many voyages, and visited 
many curious lands. He was, in his way, a sort of Greek 
Columbus; for he came home full of his travels and dis- 
coveries in the far north, where he claimed the sea came 
and went regularly twice a day in a great ebb and flow of 
tide. This great tide-moved sea, he said, washed other 
shores of a wonderful land; there, as one went still farther 
north, the days and nights were six months long, and men 
might see floating in the heavens a wonderful midnight sun. 

But the people of Greece and Rome in Pytheas' day 
could not understand this; they would not believe his 
story, but declared that he was out of his wits, and dis- 
trusted also all his other tales of discovery. 

But the world found out after a while that Captain 
Pytheas was right ; he had discovered Germany. The race 

9 



lO Gerrnany : Her People and Their Story. 

of men he had found along this seaboard were the Teu- 
tons of German birth and the Cimbrii of Celtic origin. 
They came originally, it is believed, from far-off Asia, 
one tribe after another, the fiercest driving the others 
farther and farther before them, until their advance was 
cut off by the broad Atlantic or the cold North Sea. 

It was on the table-lands of Asia that this wonderful 
people originally lived, in the valley north of the Aral 
Sea between the Oxus and Jaxartes Rivers. From their 
superior traits of character we recognize them as belong- 
ing to the Aryan race, that stock from which all modern 
civilization and progress have sprung. 

The Aryans were neighbors of the Hebrews, and 
earlier, no doubt, worshipped the same God, believing 
in the immortality of the soul ; but later, drifting away, 
they lost the inspiration of the true religion, and accepted 
the doctrine of the pagan gods, believing in Woden, Thor, 
and the lesser deities. They had a rude civilization ; and 
their knowledge of the mechanical arts was exhibited in 
the constructing of comfortable houses, with doors and 
windows of opaque glass, and the manufacture of house- 
hold utensils and weapons of war. The decimal system, 
which, in time, must take the place of much of our hard 
mathematics, doubtless took its rise with them when they 
discarded every means of reckoning except in tens and 
hundreds. They were primitive agriculturists; but, like 
their Hebrew brethren, they wandered from place to place 
tending their flocks; and while they followed the chase 
their women kept the home fires brightly burning. Their 
domestic life was beautiful, being founded on conjugal 
affection; for they honored their women, who returned 
their love and taught their children to be dutiful. 

It is supposed that these people emigrated from this 
plateau (of the Iran) about the time Abraham left Ur of 



Early Germany. ii 

the Chaldees, and that they reached northeastern Europe 
two thousand years before Christ ; and there is an hypoth- 
esis that in the dense forests some of them met other 
prehistoric races, and degenerated into the barbaric tribes 
which later overran Europe. 

There were three waves of migration, — the Celtic, the 
Germanic, and the Slavonic. The Celts went north, where 
Captain Pytheas found them ; the Gauls, another branch 
of the Celts, settled in France, where Caesar subjugated 
them. When the Celts came they found only marshes 
and forests, with a race of people little superior to sav- 
ages. The habits of the Celts were those of their Aryan 
ancestors; and like the latter, their character was worthy 
and reliable, almost their only blemish being the system 
of slavery, which originated in the conquered becoming 
the spoils of the conquerors. Woden, the highest God, 
ruled the fate of men, gave victory, sent every blessing, 
and took fallen heroes up into his spacious heaven. 
Frey dispensed friendship, faith, and freedom, and gave 
us Friday, the luckiest and unluckiest day. Thor, in the 
full strength of manhood, was the thunderer, but Baldur, 
the son of Frigga, was in the bloom of youth. No peo- 
ple believed so -fully in the future life. They were not 
afraid of death, because they knew that to be brave was 
to be good, and that it was only the weak and timid, the 
cowardly and unholy, who would be shut out of Wal- 
halla's mirth, where there would be merry hunting and 
gay feasts, everlasting wrestling and matches to test their 
strength. The story of the old goddess who, when Bal- 
dur was struck by the mistletoe, would not weep for him 
and thereby restore his life, illustrates, in the compro- 
mise by which he was given back to his mother half of the 
year, not only the change of seasons, but the higher life, 
the struggle betweeti good and evil. The legend takes 



1 2 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

away our grief when the beautiful seasons fade away, and 
ice and snow stiffen the earth and make us feel chill 
winter's blast; and by the allegory we are reminded that 
evil must vanish before the soft light of love. 

After the sea-captain Pytheas found them, the ever- 
increasing tribes had an uneventful existence, until the 
mountain glaciers, melting, caused great floods, and the 
encroachment of the incoming tribes sent them sliding 
on their shining shields over the Rha^tian Alps into 
Italy, where they sought new homes. The Roman gene- 
ral Marius conquered in the first struggle between mod- 
ern civilization and ancient barbarism, in loi B.C., at 
Vercellae. After he had slain one hundred and forty 
thousand Cimbrians, the women formed themselves into 
a square three miles in extent, with their shields locked 
together, and when driven to desperation, made a fortifi- 
cation of their carts and wagons. At last finding resist- 
ance useless, they slew their children and afterwards 
themselves, thus exterminating the race. But military 
experts declare that Marius could not have conquered 
the Cimbrians had he not posted his men in such a man- 
ner that the enemy was obliged to fight against a head 
wind and a July sun. 

Within the next fifty years after the battle at Vercellae 
Caesar was born, and a quarter of a century later the 
great Augustus. It was known in Csesar's time that a 
multitude of people, who had homes of their own and 
were agriculturists, occupied the country beyond the 
Rhine. They were called Germani, either because so 
nearly related to the people of Gaul and therefore ger- 
mane to them, or from their weapons, for Ge7-- meant a 
spear. Ariovistus, who was conquered by Caesar near 
what is now Basle, Switzerland, was the first German name 
mentioned in history. In these wars Ccesar recognized 



Early Germany. 13 

the German valor, and on one of his campaigns took back 
to Rome six thousand youths to fill up the waning Roman 
ranks. By this means the Germans learned Roman tac- 
tics, and carried home the refinements and culture of the 
more advanced civilization. 

Tacitus describes very graphically the customs and 
habits of Germany the century before Christ. He speaks 
of the country as cold and barren, with malarious swamps 
in place of the present fruitful fields and finely built 
roads; of the dark forest's sombre shade, where now are 
smiling prospects with happy people tilling the soil. 
The men spent their time in warlike pursuits and follow- 
ing the chase. They had reddish hair and blue eyes, and 
were simple, pious, truthful, patriotic, and brave, their 
word being as good as their bond; but they were given 
to drink, and were therefore quarrelsome. The women, 
as now, were beautiful, virtuous, dignified, and proud, with 
blue eyes, golden hair, and fresh complexion. They 
shared their husband's counsel, gave advice, and attended 
to the agricultural pursuits when he was following the 
chase; but they accompanied him to battle, caring for the 
wounded, and stimulating to victory by shouts and song. 
The government in those days resembled a primitive re- 
public, the first executive gathering being called a " Meet- 
ing," and afterwards " Folk-mote," because every freeman 
had a right to his word in matters to be considered. This 
" Folk-mote " was the origin of the " town-meeting," which 
still exists in America. The " Meeting " afterwards be- 
came the Assembly, and, in time, the Diet. The kings 
and chiefs were chosen in the general assembly, which 
was in effect like our representative government. The 
kings and princes and chiefs formed a kind of cabinet, 
where measures were discussed and afterwards presented 
to the people for final decision. If the freemen did not 



14 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

agree to these measures they clashed their arms. The 
kings and dukes were elected by being raised upon a 
shield. A habit almost identical with this was practised 
in England up to the time of our Revolution; and some 
time previous to this, when Washington was elected to 
the Legislature in Frederick, a friend went through this 
formality for him by proxy, so averse was he to vain show. 

Thirty years before the Christian era the peaceful reign 
of Augustus commenced. Although he governed wisely 
and justly, his desire to extend the dominion of the Roman 
Empire was paramount to all. In the centre of Rome he 
erected a golden milestone to indicate the centre of the 
universe, and from this site wonderfully built roads went 
out to all parts of his dominion. These roads opened the 
country to hordes of barbarians, but they also made way 
for the spread of Christianity. This was after the years 
of intolerance had become so insupportable that all Chris- 
tianized people lived only in the hope of death. 

Drusus, the stepson of Augustus, made four campaigns 
into Germany, and built fifty castles along the Rhine. 
He would have subdued a large part of the independent 
territory had not a Velleda or German prophetess terri- 
fied him by her warnings, which were fulfilled thirty days 
after by a fatal fall from his horse. Tiberius succeeded 
Drusus; after him came Domitius y^nobarbus, and finally, 
in the year 7 a.d., Augustus sent Varus Quintilius as 
governor of the turbulent tribes. He soon rendered 
himself despised by his tyranny and exaction; for he 
overturned all their old forms of government, substi- 
tuted the customs, laws, and punishments of the Romans, 
and even claimed the right to put German freemen to 
death. The inborn spirit of German liberty could not 
brook such a policy; and they determined to deliver them- 
selves from a bondage, the chains of which a conflict 



Early Gei'jfianj. 1 5 

of seventy years had been welding more firmly at each 
assault. 

The tribes of the Cherusci, which inhabited the country 
between the Weser and the Elbe, had as the head of one 
of their distinguished families a chief, Sigimar by name. 
His son, the young prince Arminius, was a noble youth 
of great promise. He was so brave in character, with a 
judgment so discreet and a mind so cultivated, that, just 
budding into manhood as he was, with no one can he so 
well be compared as with our Washington. While still a 
lad he had entered the Roman service, acquired Roman 
tastes and culture, and by his military talents he had dis- 
tinguished himself and been made a Roman knight. 

As chief of the Cherusci he fought at the head of the 
Roman legions; and when after several years he returned 
to his home and found his kindred smarting under the 
despotism of Varus, he determined, like Washington, to 
liberate his country. Being still in the Roman army with 
Varus he had influence, and was able to scatter detach- 
ments amongst the different tribes; while the Romans, 
secure in the strength of their great power, mistrusted 
nothing of artifice or revolt. When Varus was marching 
through the Teutoburger Forest, Arminius, who had 
formed a network by means of these detachments, burst 
upon the legions of Varus, murdering his warlike men. 
From the trees above and the thickets on all sides, from 
the mountain passes and impenetrable forests and along 
impassable rivers, men hurled their weapons upon the 
Roman soldiers, who, although they fought like heroes for 
three days, were entirely cut to pieces and the whole 
army exterminated, Varus himself falling on his sword. 
Arminius cut off the head of Varus, and sent it to his 
enemy Marbod as a trophy of the victory gained, and also 
as a warning of the fate awaiting him. The news of the 



1 6 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

slaughter filled Augustus and all Rome with the greatest 
grief. The Emperor did not shave his beard nor cut his 
hair for many weeks, and was often heard to cry out, " O 
Varus, Varus! give me back my legions." But Arminius 
said to his army, "The spell of the Roman power is 
broken ; the German gods are greater than the gods of 
Rome." 

In 14 A.D., the year Augustus died, Germanicus made 
the first of four campaigns for plunder. The second was 
interesting from a dramatic point of view. Arminius 
had stolen away Thusnelda, the daughter of Sergestes, 
another chief of the Cherusci, and had married her; but 
subsequently Sergestes had recaptured her, and shut her 
up in a German fortress which Arminius besieged. Ser- 
gestes applied to Germanicus for assistance; and he 
presented himself before the castle, and after driving Ar- 
minius away and making Thusnelda a slave, he took her 
back to Rome, where he exhibited her in a triumphal pro- 
cession as one of the trophies of this victorious campaign. 
Germanicus, that same year, collected the bones of Varus' 
legions which still lay bleaching in the sun, and buried 
them with military honors. Arminius compelled Ger- 
manicus to retreat ; but the former's army was so weakened 
by opposition and want of unity at home that Germanicus 
was able to retire in good order, and to erect a monument 
on the banks of the Weser declaring that he had con- 
quered Germany. In honor of the bravery of which 
America as a nation also has reason to be proud, the 
Germans, hundreds of years afterwards, erected to Armin- 
ius a lofty monument on the highest point of the Teuto- 
burger Alps, near the field of this battle (ever since called 
Winfield). It was from this very region where Arminius 
conquered that our English ancestors, the Saxons, includ- 
ing the Cherusci, went over and established a government 



Early Gennany. 17 

in England, the basis of which was the same solid ground- 
work from which the old code of English laws sprung. 

Tiberius, the successor of Augustus, becoming jealous 
of Germanicus, recalled him, saying it was better for the 
Germans to destroy themselves in their own internal dis- 
cord than to waste the best legions of Rome ; therefore for 
one hundred and fifty years the Romans gave up the idea 
of conquering Germany. Thus Arminius may well be 
called the liberator of his country, for it was the first time 
the Romans had abandoned any conquest, and this be- 
came an epoch in their history which was the precursor of 
Rome's final fall. Arminius was the first who conceived 
the idea of a United Germany and a consolidated Father- 
land. But as was the case with Washington, there had 
been ingratitude at the great deliverance which he had 
accomplished for Germany ; there was jealousy, com- 
plaint, and envy on all sides; and just as he was trying 
to establish a new government on a firm basis, he fell by 
the hand of an assassin at the age of thirty-seven years. 
He was murdered through the treachery of one of his 
own race, who thought that, like CjEsar, he aspired to be 
Dictator. But his name has been handed down to the 
ages ever since, his brave deeds have been the theme of 
minstrels and poets, and will be celebrated in patriotic 
songs as long as Germany lives. Even now Arminius is 
supposed to interest himself in Germany's military affairs, 
hovering over her armies, always assisting in great battles, 
and helping the Germans to gain the hard-won victories 
which have established their Empire so firmly and so well. 

As Tiberius had predicted, the Germans were so much 
occupied with their own civil dissensions that during the 
first century after Christ there were no disturbances out- 
side, excepting the insurrection of the Gauls under Clau- 
dius Civilis. The Romans, however, still kept up the old 



1 8 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

Rhine boundary, often crossing over to build fortresses on 
the eastern side of the river. They also went over the 
Danube, and appropriated Baden and Wiirtemberg, occu- 
pying them as a colony for their Roman and German 
veterans disabled in the Oriental wars. In the time of 
Marcus Aurelius, having built towns on the Rhine as 
well as Bregenz, Salzburg, Augsburg, and Vienna, they 
constructed stockades from a city where Ratisbon now 
stands as far as the Rhine, for a line of defence against 
the Picts and Scots. The custom of enlisting Germans 
into the Roman ranks, as old as Caesar's time, gave rise 
to an accusation of disloyalty ; but since they were always 
quarrelling at home, it seemed no worse to fight their 
countrymen under the Roman flag, where they were con- 
sidered most desirable troops, Titus saying that their 
souls were greater than their bodies. 

During the time of the five good Emperors much of 
Roman civilization was introduced into Germany. Fruit- 
trees were planted, the rich cloths and ornaments of 
Italy, as well as gold, silver, and southern wines, were 
brought in, while the German products, horses, furs, and 
eiderdown, as well as smoked beef and honey, were car- 
ried to Rome. The Romans also built baths at Baden- 
Baden and Aix-la-Chapelle, and utilized the ores, metals, 
and marble quarries in building their temples, thus teach- 
ing the Germans the resources of their own land. This 
period was not, as might be supposed, one of moral 
growth for the Romans; since the people, enervated by 
idleness, became effeminate, degenerating into vice and 
extravagance. It was at this epoch that they were accus- 
tomed to strew with dust of gold the streets through 
which the chariots of the Emperors drove. But, as re- 
gards power and strength, the position of the two nations 
was rapidly changing place. 



Early Gcrniauy. 19 

For a century or two after Marcus Aurelius, few records 
appear ; and when the Germans next come into the field, 
from thirty tribes they have become four nationalities ; 
the despised nation then had become so large a factor in 
the social life of Rome that Caracalla copied their man- 
ners and dress, wearing his hair in imitation of their 
flaxen curls. The degeneracy of Rome can no better be 
illustrated than by mentioning Maximus, a barbarian Goth, 
who was raised to the throne. Born in Thrace, the son 
of a Gothic peasant and one of the Scythian Alani, Sep- 
timus Severus had found him on one of his Eastern ex- 
peditions, and attracted by his marvellous strength and 
agility, had brought him home. He was eight feet in 
height, and able to wear the bracelet of his wife as a ring 
on his finger. He is said to have consumed forty pounds 
of meat and to have drunk an amphora of wine a day. 
His valor equalled his strength. He rose in the army 
from rank to rank, and in time, through the influence of 
the German soldiers, succeeded Alexander Severus as 
Emperor. When at last deposed because he had put the 
Senator Magnus to death, he howled like a wild beast, 
and beat his head against the wall. He was finally mur- 
dered by the German soldiers. 

It was just before the reign of Caracalla that the Roman 
government, having been put up at auction by the Pre- 
torian Guards, was bid off by Didius Julianus for three 
million pounds. These guards had been instituted by 
Augustus, and now numbered sixty thousand men, mostly 
Germans. They had become so powerful that their influ- 
ence established on the throne several rulers known as 
the " Barrack Emperors." 

The combat with Christianity had been growing more 
fierce and widespread each year ; and at the time of 
Diocletian the Christians had become numerically half 



20 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

of the entire Empire, while, under Constantine the Great, 
Christianity was established as the religion of the civil- 
ized world. But the long struggle had involved the 
slaughter of millions of people. Gibbon says that the 
victims of famine, pestilence, and war, together with 
those of the persecution, then amounted to one-half of the 
population of the globe. Julian pronounced the Chris- 
tians a sect of fanatics, declaring that they had brought 
the Roman Empire to the brink of destruction; but, when 
he was dying, impressed with the imminence of the dan- 
ger to the Empire, he exclaimed, " Thou hast conquered, 
O Galileean ! " 

During the first four centuries of the Christian era, the 
details of the German confederations had intimate rela- 
tion with the leading events of Rome, which included for 
the most part all the important incidents then transpiring 
in the world. 

In the century previous to the fall of Rome, the Goths 
had learned so much of Roman civilization that Constan- 
tine the Great feared their power, and for forty years pre- 
vented any provocation arising which could engender the 
spirit of war. With a view to weakening their influence, 
he had adroitly separated the Vandals from the Goths, 
and made them tributaries in a province which is now 
Hungary, where they remained for forty years. In the 
fourth century they were admitted on equal terms into 
diplomatic relations with the Romans. In 375 a.d. they 
were driven across the Danube into Italy by the Huns, 
their aged leader, Hermanric, having died through fright. 
The first historical character among the West Goths was 
Fritigern, who laid waste the country along the Danube, 
halting at the doors of Constantinople. The Emperor 
Valens was slain in the subsequent encounter with Friti- 
gern's army, and was succeeded by his son Gratian, 



Early Gcniiany. 2 1 

while Theodosius, his brother-in-law, a brave young Span- 
iard, became Emperor of the West. By conciliating 
Athanaric, King of the West Goths, Theodosius the Great 
obtained possession of both the Eastern and the Western 
Empires, and was the last king who enjoyed single rule, 
dying a few months after at Milan, 395 a.d., the mas- 
sacre of fifteen thousand Thessalonican Christians being 
the only tarnish on his great name. The story of the 
divided rule under the nominal sovereignty of the boys 
Arcadius and Stilicho, the sons of Theodosius, through 
their guardians Honorius and Rufinus, brings out the 
weakness of the decaying Empire, and at the same time 
exhibits the resistless but chivalrous bravery of Alaric, 
King of the West Goths. 

It was Alaric who first opened the way to the inroads 
of barbarians, conducting them to the very centre of the 
Roman Empire. Discovering its weakness, he set out on 
a voyage of plunder, pillaging every city of Greece except 
Thebes and Athens, only sparing the latter at the cost of 
a large ransom, though a legend declares that it was his 
consternation at the miraculous appearance of Pallas 
Athenas that saved the city. "Alaric had just given the 
command to storm the town when there appeared on the 
fortifications, surrounded by sunlight, a wonderful woman, 
a giant in proportion, and armed from head to foot; threat- 
ening she waves her spear, and her weapons glitter danger- 
ously, so that Alaric draws back in alarm, calling out, 
' Great Spirit, thou art none other than Pallas. If the 
gods are contendingfor the spot, then the strength of man 
must yield.' To his soldiers he said, 'Away! this place 
dismays me;' and Athens was left in peace." 

Alaric twice invaded Italy, once being vanquished by 
Stilicho; but gathering an overwhelming army, he pre- 
sented himself at the doors of Rome, her first enemy 



22 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

there for six hundred years. But Aurelian's wall was too 
secure to be taken by assault. The Senators sent word 
that the Romans were still strong and able to defend 
themselves. To which Alaric made the memorable reply, 
''The thicker the grass, the better the mowing." When 
asked what he demanded, Alaric replied, "All the gold 
and silver in your city, all your precious possessions, all 
the slaves of barbarian origin." Asked what he intended 
to leave, Alaric briefly replied, "Your lives." It is said 
that in order to pay Alaric the ransom the Romans 
stripped the roof off the temple in the Capitol, and melted 
down the images of the old gods ; yet the very next year 
he blocked up the harbor of Ostia, and put into the city 
an Emperor of his own by the name of Attains; and, 
returning the third year, he entered the city the 24th of 
August, 410 A. D., just eight hundred years after Brennus 
the Gaul had climbed up to the Capitol. 

Although Alaric was a barbarian, he ordered everything 
belonging to Christianity to be spared, levelling all the 
pagan temples; so that from that time forth the people 
of Rome were Christians, since heathenism had fallen 
with its altars. The Goths could not bear a life circum- 
scribed by the culture of Rome, and after six days 
marched southward, where, at Conzenza, Alaric fell ill 
and died. His warriors turned the course of the Busento, 
and in full armor, with his rich spoils about him, Alaric 
was placed in a grave dug in the river-bed, all the slaves 
employed being slain. He was succeeded by his brother- 
in-law Adolphus, and an arrangement was made with the 
Roman government by which the East Goths should 
inhabit Southern Gaul. Adolphus on leaving the state 
said, "I earnestly desired at first to abolish the very 
name of Rome, and to build up a Gothic Empire, so that 
Goth should mean all that Rome had meant, and Ataulf 



Early Germany. 23 

stand for Ccesar Augustus. But experience showed me 
that the unbridled barbarism of the Goths could submit 
to no law, and I chose for my part the glory of restoring 
the name of Rome by Gothic strength." His wife was 
the beautiful Placidia, who, after he was murdered, was 
married to the Roman general Constantius. 

In 428, Attila and Bleda became kings of the Huns. 
In order to obtain supreme power Attila had his brother 
Bleda murdered, proclaiming that the will of the gods 
and the necessities of the state demanded the deed. 
At this time all the Huns scorned luxury and effeminacy, 
wearing plain woollen garments, and eating and drinking 
from wooden cups and plates. They had never dwelt 
under a roof, and ate, drank, slept, bought, and sold on 
horseback. Short, thick, muscular, with yellow com- 
plexion, high cheek-bones, and bright eyes set far back 
in the forehead, with deep cuts in cheek and chin, the 
Huns were generally frightful to behold. At a later date 
they learned to imitate the luxury of Rome, and lived in 
great though barbaric splendor, so that the stranger might 
imagine himself at Constantinople or Ravenna. 

Attila's kingdom reached from the Volga to the Black 
Sea, and from the depths of the German forests to the 
Rhine. At first he chose the Byzantine Empire as the 
scene of his destruction, where he was called the " Scourge 
of God;" and it was said that "where the hoofs of his 
horses trampled no grass ever grew again." Later he 
turned his course to Gaul, and it was at Chalons that the 
fate of ancient barbarism and the destinies of modern 
civilization were sealed by the bloodiest battle that was 
ever fought. In the course of it a brook which ran through 
the plain was red with the blood of the fallen, and accord- 
ing to a legend the disembodied spirits of the combatants 
continued fighting three days and three nights in the air. 



24 Germanjf : Her People mid Their Story. 

Attila made a brave speech before the battle, saying, " If 
we are to die, we are to die; some who advance may live, 
but death shall be the fate of every one who flies." 
But, notwithstanding this, he himself was seized with a 
panic after the battle, and retreated, leaving great tracks 
of blood and ashes from Gaul to Hungary. He was also 
frightened away by visions when, the following year, he 
was about to lay waste Italy and march to Rome. Return- 
ing home, he died the next year in his wooden palace at 
Tokay, murdered by one of his countless beautiful wives. 

During the fourth and fifth centuries there are no 
records of the Germans who remained at home. But the 
legends of the Nibelungen appear concerning this epoch, 
in which Siegfried King of Burgundy weds Chriemhilde, 
Gunther marries Brunhilde, and Hagen, Chriemhilde's 
uncle, kills Siegfried, who has destroyed the dragon by 
means of whose blood, except between the shoulders, 
Siegfried had been made invulnerable. To avenge Sieg- 
fried, Chriemhilde marries this very Attila, and in the 
same wooden palace at Tokay, slays Gunther and Hagen ; 
but she herself is put to death by Dietrich of Bern 
(Theodoric the Great), because he would not permit a 
woman of such foul deeds to live. 

In the year 455 a.d., Eudoxia, the wife of the murdered 
Valentinian III., summoned Geiseric, the old sea-king, 
to avenge her enforced marriage with Maximus; and as 
a consequence the Vandals sailed to the doors of Rome. 
They sacked it and plundered it until "vandalism" be- 
came the name for the destruction of the beautiful. After 
this Ricimer, King of the Suevii, obtained possession of 
the city, overturning five rulers at his will. 

But the shadow of the migrations was not yet effaced, 
for every new conqueror tried his hand at Rome. The 
Germans had gradually wrenched from the Romans one 



Early Gerviany. 25 

province after another, until the Western Kingdom con- 
sisted only of Italy; and this was doomed when it fell 
into Odoacer's hands. He, having seen the weakness of 
the government, discovered how easily he could rule 
where he had only served. Thus, in 476 a.d., just twelve 
centuries after the founding of Rome, he snatched the 
Empire from the hands of the weak Romulus Augustus, 
and sent him into retirement. This was the culmination 
of the world-conquering Roman Empire. After the fall 
of the Western Empire, its territory was divided and 
governed for a time by a number of kings. The Vandals 
still held Africa, the West Goths Spain and Southern 
Gaul, the Saxons had established a firm foothold in 
Britain, and the Franks in Northern Gaul. The East 
Goths became allies of the Eastern Empire, and re- 
ceived annual tribute for defending the Byzantine fron- 
tier. Theodoric, their king, was a noble character, who 
had acquired the culture and refinements of high civili- 
zation at Constantinople. Emperor Zeno had made him 
governor of the West, with instructions to attack Odoa- 
cer, and bring peace to the land. It was not the march 
of an army which Theodoric directed, but the migration of 
an entire race; for as a nation the East Goths emigrated, 
with wives and children, herds and household goods. 
When Odoacer saw them coming, he went forth to meet 
them on the plains of Northern Italy; but when he per- 
ceived their large number, he retired to Ravenna, where 
he was forced to remain three years, until Theodoric suc- 
cessfully besieged the city, taking Odoacer prisoner. 
Although he promised the latter a third of his kingdom, 
the Teutonic chief was murdered soon after, a crime 
which is one of the few blots on Theodoric's great char- 
acter; but it is said that Theodoric had heard that Odo- 
acer was plotting to murder him. 



26 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

When Theodoric took possession of Italy he spread 
abroad such a feeling of peace and security that even the 
spirit of the Romans revived. On coming into power he 
said, "Let other kings seek to procure booty and the 
downfall of conquered cities, our purpose is, with God's 
help, so to conquer that our subjects shall lament that 
they have too late come under our rule." During the 
twenty-six years of his reign Theodoric was the most 
powerful monarch of the civilized globe. The Germans 
regarded him as the greatest and mightiest of their war- 
riors, and he proved to be so just and magnanimous that 
he well deserves the name "Theodoric the Great." He 
lived at Verona, but came often to Rome, setting aside 
each year a sum for repairing the old buildings and 
restoring the works of art. His correspondence, carried 
on by means of dictation to his slaves, exhibits his culti- 
vated mind ; but he could never learn even to write his 
name, although he carried tablets with him, and practised 
the letters of the alphabet during his leisure hours. His 
signature was a big black mark over his Greek name, 
"0EOA," stereotyped in a mould. Being a follower of 
the dissenter Arius, he was considered a heretic by the 
Pope ; therefore soon after his death, which occurred on 
August 30, A.D. 526, his ashes were taken from his tomb 
at Ravenna, and scattered to the winds. Some have 
compared him to Abraham Lincoln. 

Seven Gothic kings ruled after Theodoric, but the Pope 
was beginning to monopolize the power. The inextin- 
guishable courage of these last Gothic rulers and their 
heroic death left grand examples until the destruction 
and fall of the nation. 

The golden milestone which Augustus had planted now 
marked the spot from which, through all the centuries of 
the Empire, the squadrons of Rome had marched forth 



Early Germany. 27 

to victory, and to which the nations of Europe and even 
Asia had come to learn their doom. But the milestone 
itself had long since been broken ; for the Empire had 
fallen, and alike, victorious generals and their train of 
captives, mouldered in the same dust. 

At the close of the period called ''The Irruption of the 
Barbarians," Europe was like the flotsam and jetsam on a 
wide ocean after a great ship has foundered. For the next 
three centuries there were four important factors which 
exerted a powerful influence in preparing Germany and 
Italy for a union in the Holy German Empire. The 
Franks were the great people who were destined to de- 
stroy the remnant of Gothic influence, extinguish the 
Lombard nation, and, uniting with the Holy See of the 
Roman dominion, were to build up a new and firmer 
government. 

While the barbarians were waging their brutal wars, the 
Franks had exhibited great energy and bravery, and had 
been cultivating the arts of civilization. About the time 
of Theodosius the Great, a.d. 395, the year the Byzantine 
Empire was formed, the Franks, having found a nation 
on the lower Rhine, began to elect kings. The third 
ruler was called Meroveus, from whom the Merovingian 
dynasty is named ; their kings were called Meerwigs. At 
this time the Franks were heathen ; but through the mar- 
riage of Clovis with the Christian princess Chlothilde, the 
former, with the greater part of the nation, embraced the 
Christian faith. 

History gives no record equal in crime to that of the 
Merovingian dynasty, — the father constantly murdering 
the son, the brother betraying the brother, and the wife 
the husband. In their history, which comes out only 
in the legends of the Nibelungen, Siegbert and Chilperic 
are among the rulers; but instead of Brunhilde and 



28 Germany : Her People atid Their Story. 

Chriemhilde fighting before the Worms Cathedral for 
preference in entering in, it is Brunhilde and Fredegonde 
who cause all the wars for forty years. The city of 
Worms is one of the places in these legends, thus named 
because Siegfried is there supposed to have met and 
slain the dragon " Wurm," which in those days meant a 
serpent. 

After the death of Siegbert the divided rule was united 
under Clotaire II. in 628 a.d. Then it was shared by 
Dagobert and Charibert, the former of whom was the first 
of the so-called ^' J^o/s Faineants'' (lazy kings). Under 
these, the mayors of the palace were the real kings. 
These were the " ro is faineants : " — 

Siegbert II. Thierry I. 

Clovis II. Dagobert II. 

Clotaire III. Chilperic II. 

Sole king in 656 of Neustria and Burgundy. THIERRY II. 

Childeric III. Chilperic III. 

Sole king of Austrasia. ThEODORIC. 

Pepin of Hefistal, mayor of the palace, overthrew 
these " rois faineants," and with them the dynasty fell. 
Pepin the Short was the first to gain the title of king. 
Charles, the father of the latter, from his skill as a com- 
mander in many and great battles, and his remarkable 
triumph over the Saracen invaders at Poitiers, gained for 
him the name of Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer). 
This victory was almost as magnificent and was fraught 
with quite as important consequences to the world as 
that at Chalons. The Carlovingian dynasty commenced 
with Pepin the Short in 754 a.d. But Pepin enlisted in 
a long struggle with the Lombards before he gained the 
power. 

The Lombards were first heard of as far back as legen- 



Early Germany. 29 

dary times. The good dames prayed to Frigga, the wife 
of Woden, to give the tribes good speed when they were 
going forth to battle. Frigga, the next morning, bade 
the warriors stand forth in the rising sun with their 
long hair let down over their chins. AVoden asked, " Who 
are these longbeards .'' " — " Thou hast given them a name 
and now thou must give them victory ," answered Frigga. 
Henceforth they were called " Longbeards," or " Longo- 
bards ;" and afterwards they were known as " Lombards," 
though a modern critic derives the name from the Ger- 
man laug and bartc (battle-club). 

In the time of Ca;sar they were living near the mouth 
of the Elbe. After they had reached the Danube, in the 
fourth century, history is silent as to their wanderings 
until 560 A.D., when their king, Alboin, conquered theGe- 
pidae and married Rosamond, the daughter of Kunimund, 
the Gepidae's king. But when, to celebrate the victory, Al- 
boin tried to force Rosamond to drink out of her father's 
skull, she had him murdered. There is, however, a more 
fascinating romance concerning Autharis, the grandson of 
Alboin, who ascended the Lombard throne in 584 a.d., 
conquering Italy. Autharis had heard of the charms of 
the beautiful Theodolinda; he was too impatient to wait 
the return of the embassy sent to arrange the marriage, and 
sought her palace in the disguise of a courtier, conducting 
their romantic courtship himself. Thus, instead of observ- 
ing the diplomatic rules in such cases, he won her heart 
as well as her hand. Autharis lived only long enough to 
see Theodolinda the idol of his people ; but after he died 
she persuaded them to become Christians, and taught 
them the arts of civilized life. It was she who built the 
cathedral at Monza, near Milan, where the " Iron Crown 
of Lombardy " is still kept. 

Finally, in 565 a.d., Narses, the Byzantine general, 



30 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

invited the Lombards to come to his aid against the 
Avars. The passes of the Alps were left open for them, 
and the whole nation emigrated into that portion of 
Northern Italy now called Lombardy. After a siege 
of four years, the last Alboin reduced Pavia, and Italy 
became the home of the race. Thus in 570 a.d. ended 
the migrations begun in 375 a.d. 

After this only Ravenna, Naples, and Genoa were held 
by the Eastern Emperors, who lived at Constantinople 
and were called Exarchs. Rome, though nominally sub- 
ject to the exarchy, was under the government of the 
Pope, while Venice, then a young Republic, was safe for 
many years on its marshy islands in the Adriatic. 



Pepin the SJiort as King. 31 



CHAPTER II. 

PEPIN THE SHORT AS KING. REIGN OF CHARLEMAGNE. 

754—800 A.D. 

BETWEEN ''les rois faineants'' (the lazy kings), the 
Royal Stewards, the Pope, the Exarchs, and the 
Lombards, whose kingdom was at its zenith at the time 
of Charles Martel, the government of Italy saw the great- 
est vicissitudes and was at its lowest ebb. There had 
been eighteen Exarchs in all, and their cruelty gave rise 
to fierce insurrections, which were suppressed by the most 
desperate means. But, since human nature has a limit 
to its power of endurance, the Exarchs shared the same 
fate as the Emperors themselves. Sometimes they, with 
all their court, would be murdered in one night. One, 
proclaiming himself Exarch, was struck down by his 
soldiers on the spot; another plundered the National 
Treasury; and still another seized the Pope, and sent him 
to prison. So, with the Exarchs on one side, and the 
Lombard kings on the other, the people had a hard time. 
Pope Zacharias had appealed to Pepin the Short against 
the persecution of Aistolphus, King of the Lombards ; 
whereupon Pepin propounded the famous question, which 
settled the destiny of Royal Stewards as Carlovingian 
kings : " Does the kingdom belong to him who exercises 
the power without the name, or to him who bears the 
name without possessing the power ? " The answer was 
what he expected. An assembly having been called, 
Pepin was anointed king by Archbishop Bonifacius, called 



32 Germany : He7' People and Their Story. 

the Apostle of Germany, the good missionary who had 
converted so many Germans. Pepin was raised on his 
shield, and accepted by the nobles and people, while 
Childeric III. was shorn of his long hair, the Meerwig 
badge of royalty, and sent to a monastery. Pepin named 
himself king "by the grace of God," an example followed 
by most of the French, German, and English rulers ever 
since. He rewarded the Pope by giving him a large part 
of Lombardy ; this was a great step gained in the interests 
of the Papal power, which had commenced when Clovis 
the Great gave the Church Papal lands. 

Stephen became the successor of Zacharias. Aistol- 
phus, the Lombard king, had driven the Byzantines out 
of the Exarchy of Ravenna, and was marching to take 
Rome. Pope Stephen gave Pepin the title of " Patrician 
of Rome," and crowned him and his sons, Karl and Karlo- 
man, in the Chapel of St. Denis near Paris, issuing a ban 
of excommunication against all other monarchs. Pepin, 
having failed to negotiate with the Lombard king, marched 
into Italy, and made Aistolphus fulfil a former promise to 
give up the Exarchy, and also to pay the expense of the 
war. He remained some time in Italy with his son Karl 
(Charlemagne), who was then fourteen years old. Twelve 
years after, Pepin the Short died, leaving a stronger and 
better-organized government to his sons Karl and Karlo- 
man than Europe had seen since the downfall of Rome. 

During three years after Pepin's decease the govern- 
ment had remained unsettled ; but on the death of Karlo- 
man, in 771 a. d., the great man, whose memory posterity 
continues to honor, ascended the throne. His name has 
been handed down as Charlemagne, — that is Karl, — or 
Charles the Great. He ruled over an Empire which dur- 
ing his reign became more powerful than any that had 
existed since the Casars. But the greatness of his strong 



Reign of Charlemagne. 33 

character was more admirable than all his conquests, 
while his simplicity of soul shone out clear above all 
else. He is said to have been a type of chivalry before 
the age of chivalry began. 

Charlemagne was at once called to the first, the great- 
est, and most extensive task of his life, the conquest of 
the Saxons. Of all the barbarians that had ever overrun 
Europe, the Saxons were the most warlike and inextin- 
guishable in their hatred of civilization and Christianity. 
But they were brave and daring, they revered and hon- 
ored their women, and, when finally subdued, made the 
best Christians and the sturdiest citizens of all the Ger- 
man tribes. They were of the same stock as the English 
Saxons from whom sprang the race that made America. 

Although Boniface had tried to convert the Saxons, 
they were the last of the Germans to hold out; he had 
been dead many years before they finally yielded as 
Christians and good subjects to the influence of Charle- 
magne. For thirty-three years the great king fought the 
Saxons ; and though he never lost a battle, he many times 
thought them conquered when they were still unsubdued. 

While Charlemagne was engaged in his first encounters 
with the Saxons, a new danger arose. Soon after his 
succession to the throne, he had sent his wife, Hermin- 
garde, the daughter of Desiderius, back to the court of her 
father, the last of the Lombard kings. The widow and 
sons of Charlemagne's brother Karloman had also sought 
an asylum at this same court, because Charlemagne had 
refused them any part in the government. Desiderius, 
not comprehending the great monarch's power, appealed 
to Pope Hadrian to protect the young princes, threaten- 
ing in case this was not done to march upon Rome. 
Hadrian summoned Charlemagne, and thus brought him 
in all his might across the Alps into Italy, leading an 



34 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

army over the passes of St. Bernard and Mont Cenis. 
The story runs that he rewarded the trumpeter who 
showed him the way with as much land as came within 
the sound of his trumpet's blast. 

Desiderius was much alarmed when the mighty hero 
drew near the town. Looking from his high tower at 
Pavia, the capital that old Alboin had chosen for the 
Lombard race, and seeing the approach of the vanguard, 
an irresistible force, he asked a Frank who had fled from 
Charlemagne and was with him ; " Is Charles in this great 
army ? " — " Not yet," replied the Frank. Then as the 
great mass of the army appeared, and a long line of bishops, 
cardinals, and all the priesthood with their servants ap- 
proached : " Charlemagne must certainly be here," said 
the king. "Not yet, not yet," was the answer. After 
this new legions appeared, and the frightened monarch 
called out once more: "That must be Charlemagne." 
But again the reply was, "Not yet." Then the Frank 
said : " When you shall observe a crop of iron rise upon 
the field, then know that Charlemagne is coming." There- 
upon Desiderius from his high window perceived a dark 
cloud in the West, which shut out the day. As it drew 
near, he saw Charlemagne, his armor glittering in the 
sun ; for he wore an iron helmet, iron splints, and an iron 
breastplate around his broad chest ; he held an iron spear 
in his left hand, and his unconquerable sword in his right. 
His shield also was of iron, and even his war-horse seemed 
to be of the same stern stuff. The street below was cov- 
ered with iron men whose swords flashed in the sunlight. 
This time Desiderius, recognizing the mighty warrior, 
stammered: "Let us hide ourselves in the earth before 
the anger of so terrible an enemy." 

After a siege of several years, Desiderius was obliged 
to descend from Alboin's lofty perch and give battle at 




Charlemagnk at Pavia 



Reign of Charlemagne. 35 

Pavia, where he was completely routed after a long and 
brave defence. Charlemagne sent him to a cloister 
where he died, the last ruler of the Lombard race. Then 
the great sovereign united the remnant of the Lombard 
nation with the Franks. 

Charlemagne took the iron crown of Lombardy, and 
placed it upon his head. This crown, still in the Ca- 
thedral at Monza, is in reality a crown of gold encir- 
cled within by a ring of iron, which is said to have 
been twisted into this shape out of one of the nails of 
the sacred cross from Calvary. Napoleon, one thousand 
years after, hoping to establish an Empire greater than 
that of Charlemagne, took the same crown and placed it 
upon his own brow, just as the Empire that Charlemagne 
had founded was crumbling into dust. 

From this epoch Charlemagne was recognized as king 
of the Franks and the Lombards; and the Pope added 
the title, Protector of the Roman Church. At once he 
pushed forward to Rome. It was Easter Sunday. Crowds 
came thirty miles to meet him outside the city gates. As 
he neared the town, the whole populace assembled in the 
streets; maidens strewed palms and olive-branches be- 
neath his horse's feet; thousands of voices rose in thank- 
fulness and gratitude to him as liberator, and sung, 
" Hosanna ! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of 
the Lord." 

The Pope received him at the door of the Vatican; 
they embraced, and walked side by side, Charlemagne in 
the place of honor at his right. Thus they entered St. 
Peter's Church, the supposed site of the Apostle Peter's 
martyrdom. Charlemagne bent and touched each step 
with his lips. This was the first time that the great 
monarch had visited the Eternal City since, as a boy, he 
had come with his father. 



36 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

Charlemagne had been solicited by the Saracen knights 
of Spain to come and protect them against the Caliph of 
Cordova, who had banished their governor at Saragossa. 
The Emperor, who had returned to Saxony, led an army 
over the Pyrenees, conquered Spain as far as the Ebro, 
and storming Saragossa, reinstated the governor on con- 
dition of his taking the oath of fealty; he then annexed 
the conquered territory to the Roman Kingdom. 

This is said to have been the only useless war in which 
Charlemagne ever engaged ; since it was afterwards proved 
that the Saracens, a brave and gentle people, already 
learning the arts of civilization, would have been better 
off if left to themselves. But this was an era of culture 
to the rough Franks, who learned refinement from the 
Saracens. 

On Charlemagne's return from this victorious battle, a 
part of his forces were massacred by the Basques in the 
wild passes of the Pyrenees, many of his best warriors 
being among the number. The Basques threw spears 
and rolled huge stones upon Charlemagne's knights as 
the army passed through the narrow defiles. All of his 
twelve Paladins were slain excepting two. Among those 
slaughtered was his nephew Roland, called by the Italians 
Orlando, who was the theme of poets down to Luther's 
time. Roland received his death from four spear wounds; 
and when he saw that he was fatally wounded, seizing 
his glittering sword, Durindana, which had been taken 
from a Saracen warrior and was said originally to have 
belonged to the great Hector of Troy, he bore down 
upon a rock, with the great strength for which he was 
celebrated, determined to break the sword rather than 
surrender it to the enemy. His efforts were in vain, how- 
ever, for the sturdy blade remained uninjured. Roland 
had refused to summon Charlemagne, who was in the 



Reign of Charlemagne. 37 

valley below; but when he saw his end approaching, he 
blew his horn three times with such force that it burst 
the arteries of his neck, and cleft a rock in the mountain 
which was ever after called "Roland's breach." Again 
the brave knight returned to the fight, until the news was 
brought that the enemy had surrendered ; then, fixing his 
eyes on his sword hilt as if on a crucifix, he breathed out 
his pure soul to God. 

Just then Charlemagne came up. He had been deceived 
by the enemy asking a truce, and had sent Roland with 
an embassy; but having heard the horn sound three times 
so vigorously, he feared it was a signal of distress, and 
started with the remainder of his knights up the narrow 
defiles to meet his nephew. When he saw Roland dead 
before him, embracing his body and kissing him, he said, 
" I bless thee, Orlando ; I bless thy whole life, and all 
that thou wast, and all that thou ever didst, and the 
father that begat thee ; and I ask pardon of thee for be- 
lieving those who brought thee to this end; they shall 
have their reward, O thou beloved one ! but indeed it is 
thou who livest, and I who am worse than dead." 

Charlemagne in his wrath hung the Duke of Aquitaine, 
in whose territory the massacre took place, on charge of 
treachery. 

The legends concerning Roland's youth are most ex- 
plicit and fascinating. According to one of these, Roland 
was a poor boy, living in a cave with his mother, the sis- 
ter of Charlemagne, who by a forbidden and unfortunate 
marriage had separated herself from the glory of her 
family. After her husband's death she was so very poor 
that one day, calling to her little Roland, who was play- 
ing in the sunshine, she bade him go into the town and 
beg for bread. 

While she was speaking to her son, Charlemagne was 



38 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

sitting at dinner attended by great pomp and splendor; 
and outside in the court were many beggars, amongst 
whom Roland soon took his place. The king took no 
particular notice of the vagrants until, suddenly, a splen- 
did-looking boy appeared, in a peculiar outfit, consisting 
of a suit of clothes made up in four colors. The lad, 
springing through the network of the enclosure, lifted a 
dish from the table, as if in his own house, and without 
a word carried it out. The king thought this a most ex- 
traordinary proceeding; but since he said nothing, the 
servers allowed the event to pass without remark ; in 
a few moments, however, young Roland reappeared, and 
snatching the golden goblet from the hands of the king 
himself, walked out. "Hold on! you saucy scamp!" 
cried Charlemagne. Then, recalling a dream of which 
this was a reminder, he ordered the boy to be followed 
by three knights, who encountered Roland at the en- 
trance of his cave, where he stood with a cudgel ready to 
protect his mother. They soon learned who she was, and 
promised to obtain pardon from their sire; whereupon 
Roland was so far received into Charlemagne's favor that 
he took him with him as an inmate of his palace, and 
afterwards made him one of his twelve Paladins. 

The explanation of the "coat of many colors" involves 
another anecdote. Roland was so poor that he was some- 
times only half clad. Being a favorite of the boys, four 
of them one day brought cloth to make him a suit of 
clothes, each bringing a different color. Oliver, the son 
of the governor of the town, was one of Roland's early 
playmates; and the two boys maintained a close friend- 
ship up to the time that Roland went to live with Charle- 
magne, after which they saw no more of each other until 
they met at a tournament some years later. There had 
been a quarrel between Charlemagne and one of his 



Reign of CJiarlcmagne. 39 

nobles, Guerin de Montglave, which was to be settled by 
a contest, the combatants being decided by lot. Roland 
was chosen on Charlemagne's side, the noble's grandson 
on the other. After fighting bravely for two hours, the 
young men snatched at each other's helmets, tearing them 
away, and at the same moment rushed into each other's 
embrace. " I am conquered ! " cried Roland. " I yield 
me," cried Oliver; for it was no other than Roland's old 
friend, whom when a poor boy he had so passionately 
loved. 

The rest of the knights were so much pleased at the 
bravery which both of the young men had shown that they 
effected a reconciliation between Charlemagne and the 
noble, Guerin de Montglave, who with his sons and grand- 
sons went forth with Charlemagne to conquer the King of 
Spain. From this contest arose the expression, " A Roland 
for an Oliver." 

The Saxons, encouraged by the report that the army 
of the Franks was destroyed, revolted for the fifth time. 
Their king, Wittikind, invaded the Frankish kingdom, 
plundering, murdering, and burning everything in his 
way. Charlemagne formerly had had little trouble in 
temporarily suppressing these Saxon insurrections, con- 
sequently he sent a strong division of his army with 
messages of peace. The messengers were treacherously 
murdered, and the army cut to pieces with great brutality 
in the Teutoburger forest at Detmold, on the same battle- 
field where Arminius and Varus had fought. On account 
of this deed Charlemagne's great patience was exhausted, 
and his slumbering barbarism so far aroused, that, when 
his army had met and defeated the Saxons, the prisoners 
to the number of four thousand were beheaded. The 
Saxons, being thoroughly enraged by this treatment, rose 
in rebellion yet two or three times, but their spirit was 



40 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

almost broken. A year or two after, when the fugitive 
Wittikind stole in disguise to the camp of Charlemagne, 
he was impressed to such a degree by the dignity of the 
king's bearing, and the pomp and glory of the religious 
services held there, that the Saxons soon after yielded, 
and in 808 were incorporated into the Empire, King Wit- 
tikind and his people being all baptized. Afterwards 
Charlemagne made Wittikind Duke of the Saxons, and 
henceforth was his friend. 

As a protection against the Avars, a Tartar tribe, 
and the Wends, a Slavonic tribe, Charlemagne built for- 
tresses at Halle, Magdeburg, Buchen, made Saxon colo- 
nies among the Franks, and also established provinces 
called Marks. In the Saxon Mark the earliest germ of 
Brandenburg and of modern Prussia originated, and from 
this the present Germany sprung. 

The resources of Charlemagne's genius were taxed to 
the uttermost ; for there were always disturbances among 
the Lombards and amongst the Saracens in Spain ; the 
still unsubdued Bavarians were continually inciting the 
Avars to make invasions ; and finally the Norsemen, in 
the guise of merchants, came down the great rivers in 
their open boats. Although Charlemagne had made many 
expeditions, when he saw the piratical inroads of the 
Normans he said, "They are not merchants but cruel 
enemies ; " and covering his face with his hands, he wept 
like a child. By carrying their boats on their shoulders, 
the Normans crossed from one river to another, spreading 
the same terror through the heart of the country that had 
pervaded the people on the seacoast. 

To add to Charlemagne's sorrows, his son Pepin, to 
whom he had given Normandy, revolted; but the rebel 
having been well flogged, peace was once more restored. 
Then the Saxons, in 796 a.d., rose in insurrection for the 



Reign of Charlemagne. 41 

last time; and poor old Pope Leo III., having got into 
trouble, fled from the persecution of the Roman nobles to 
Charlemagne, who was then holding court at Paderborn. 
The king agreed to help him ; and the soldiers, waving 
their swords in the air, promised to re-establish him on 
the Papal throne. Amidst the chanting of the Gloria in 
Excelsis, Leo was sent back to Rome. 



42 Gcnnmiy : Her People and TJieir Story. 



CHAPTER III. 

CHARLEMAGNE CROWNED AS EMPEROR. HIS DEATH. 

COMMENTS ON HIS CHARACTER. 

800— 814 A.D. 

CHARLEMAGNE kept a minute account of the re- 
sources of his kingdom. He knew just how much 
milk and how many eggs were produced, attending to all 
such minute details himself. He also employed officers, 
the Dominici Messi, and kept them going over his domin- 
ion, reporting the condition of the different portions, inves- 
tigating grievances, and proclaiming imperial decrees. 

He had several times himself been down into Italy and 
visited Rome. Now, when all these troubles were over, 
except those with the Normans, Charlemagne, at the head 
of his army, followed Pope Leo to Rome. On Christmas 
Day, 800 A.D., after celebrating mass in St. Peter's, he 
knelt for a long time in prayer. While he was still kneel- 
ing, Leo III., stepping forward, placed the golden crown 
of the Roman Empire upon his head, and with the other 
hand anointed him. Prostrating himself before him, he 
said, " Carolo Augusto, crowned by God, the mighty peace- 
giving Emperor of the Romans, long life and victory ! " 

This was intended as a resuscitation of the extinct 
Western Empire ; from this day Charlemagne was reck- 
oned with the old Roman Emperors, who had been dead 
so long. 

Charlemagne's kingdom now extended from the Eider 
in the North to Benevento in the South, the Byzantine 



Charlemagne Crowned as Emperor. 43 

Empire in the East to the Ebro in the West. It com- 
prised France, Italy, Germany, Hungary, and the north- 
east part of Spain ; its shores were washed by the British 
Channel, the North, the Baltic, and the Mediterranean 
Seas and the Atlantic Ocean. 

Besides his other campaigns, in order to bring all the 
German provinces under his sway, Charlemagne had made 
thirty-three expeditions into the swamps and marshes of 
Germany. 

Haroun-al-Raschid, of the " Arabian Nights,'" sent em- 
bassies from Bagdad to court his friendship ; and, besides 
other magnificent presents, he gave him a wonderful clock, 
which was propelled by water-power, this being the first 
ever made to keep time ; he also presented him with the 
keys of Jerusalem and of the Holy Sepulchre. At Charle- 
magne's request. Haroun-al-Raschid took the holy places 
of Palestine under his protection, allowing the Christians 
to visit them at their will. 

At last all the greatness of his conquests, and the glorj^ 
of his renown, like all earthly baubles, became an empty 
show. The tired old man who had held Europe in a tight 
grasp found he must let it go. When Charlemagne had 
reached the age of seventy-two years, while still engaged 
in the chase in his hunting-grounds of Aix-la-Chapelle, 
he suddenly fell ill. The pain in his side increased in 
severity during seven days of illness. In the meantime 
he had strength enough to assemble the nobles, and intro- 
duce them to his son Louis as his successor. With the 
crown in his hand, accompanied by the whole assembly, 
he knelt before the altar and engaged in silent prayer. 
After this he spoke in a loud voice, in the presence of all, 
admonishing his son to fear God, care for the Church and 
for his sisters, to love his people as though they were his 
children, to aid the poor, appoint honest, God-fearing func- 



44 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

tionaries, and to conduct himself in a spotless manner 
before God and man. " Will you carry out all this?" 
Louis, with tears, said, " I will." — " Then put on this crown, 
and may you remember your promise." Louis assented to 
all the Emperor required, amidst the weeping of the people. 
Charlemagne sickened more and more; and one day soon 
after, making a sign of the cross on his forehead, he folded 
his feeble hands upon his breast, and sang in a low voice, 
" Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." Thus he 
walked through the " Valley of Shadows." 

His embalmed body was placed in a vault under the 
floor of the Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle, amidst the loud 
sobs of a lamenting people. Here he reposed, sitting on 
a golden throne, in full imperial splendor. On his head 
they placed the crown of the world, in one hand the holy 
sacrificial cup, in the other a globe surmounted by wood 
from the holy cross, the symbol of his world-wide govern- 
ment. At his right side was the sword which had sub- 
jected Europe, at his feet the sceptre under which he had 
tried to establish the permanent kingdom of Christ on 
earth. 

In this chamber of worn-out splendor and power they 
walled up his remains for two hundred years. When the 
throne of his descendants who had been laid to rest in 
forgetfulness was swept away, and Germany was governed 
by the race (so strange is the irony of fate) who had 
made Charlemagne's life a constant battle. Otto IIL, the 
Saxon King, with a band of sacrilegious rioters, one night 
opened the vault ; a glance from the eye of Charlemagne, 
who was still sitting on his throne with the same kingly 
dignity, sobered the godless crew. The majestic sight is 
said to have inspired Otto HI., who was afterwards called 
Otto the Saint, with new aspirations for a higher and 
holier living. 



Death of Charlemagne. 45 

Charlemagne was a man of infinite resources, — a great 
statesman, a wise legislator, an able general, and like 
Napoleon in his capacity for accomplishing great military 
results. While he was enlarging his territory, he was all 
the time fortifying his dominion against foreign foes. 
He regarded the common people, and recognized their 
individual rights ; but the influence of his strong govern- 
ment, and the necessity of arbitrary measures in bringing 
communities from a barbarous condition under law and 
order, strengthened an oligarchy which laid the founda- 
tion for a government of lords and serfs. 

Charlemagne had no settled residence, but was one day 
here and one day there. He used to spend much time in 
his hunting-grounds in the forests of Ardennes ; but he 
liked best his palace at Aix-la-Chapelle with facilities for 
warm baths, and there he lived in his old age. There 
he built the Cathedral, with pillars taken from Roman 
ruins. It remains almost unchanged in appearance at the 
present day, with some of the same colonnades arranged 
in semicircles. The oldest part of the present Cathe- 
dral was erected as a palace chapel by Charlemagne in 
796. The most of it was rebuilt by Otto HI. in the year 

1000 A.D. 

The following legend explains the reason why the 
Emperor preferred Aix-la-Chapelle as a residence : Charle- 
magne had in his possession a charmed ring, which had 
the power of making him ardently attached to whomso- 
ever wore it. He gave it to his wife, of whom he im- 
mediately became passionately fond. Dying soon after, 
she still wore the ring when placed in her casket. From 
that time Charlemagne refused to be separated from her 
remains. He carried the casket wherever he went, to 
the great annoyance and trouble of his courtiers, who one 
day decided to open the casket, expecting to find it filled 



46 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

with gold. Much to their surprise, the only thing they 
discovered of value was the ring. Without much thought, 
one of the courtiers immediately commenced to wear it ; 
whereupon Charlemagne's fondness for the casket disap- 
peared, and an unweaning regard for the courtier took its 
place, so that the Emperor refused to be separated from 
him, even for a moment in the day. This becoming tire- 
some, the favorite suspected the complicity of the ring, 
and threw it into one of the springs for which Aix-la- 
Chapelle is so celebrated ; and from that time this city 
was the favorite residence of Charlemagne. 

It was the Emperor's custom to hold two assemblies, 
besides special sessions, each year, at which the chief men 
from all parts of the kingdom gathered. These national 
councils are considered the most distinguished features 
of his reign ; at their meetings measures were proposed 
and debated after the manner of our time. Here Charle- 
magne tried to find out the wishes of the people as a 
whole, submitting to the nobles any new laws which had 
become necessary in the interval since the adjournment, 
and the revision of old ones which were no longer prac- 
ticable as they stood. After deliberation of these ques- 
tions by the members, they were sent to Charlemagne for 
his signature, through which only they became valid as 
laws. 

In these statutes, discussed and adopted, there was 
much of ethics, religion, and politics. The royal note- 
book contained principles like this : " Covetousness doth 
consist in desiring that which others possess, and in giv- 
ing away naught of that which one's self possesses." 
Again he said in his note-book: "Hospitality must be 
practised." Once more he adds: "If mendicants be met 
with, and they labor not with their hands, let none take 
thought about giving unto them." 



Comments oji CJiarleniagne' s Character. 47 

Nearly all the distinguished men of the eighth and 
ninth centuries were grouped around Charlemagne's court, 
either as political advisers or as the instructors of his 
household. He established schools all over the Empire, 
in which children were taught gratuitously. He also 
instituted a kind of college, called the " School of the 
Palace," in his own court, where learned persons gave 
instruction, himself presiding. His sons and daughters 
and friends here discussed theories of learning, and were 
instructed in rhetoric, astronomy, the languages and lite- 
rature, while he also took an active part. His chief coun- 
sellor was Alcuin, an English monk, and a man of great 
learning, while Paul Diaconus, a learned Lombard, and 
Bishop Turpin were among his friends. 

Charlemagne's secretary, Eginhard, wrote a history of 
the Emperor's life, in which, among a great number of 
other interesting things, he said : " In all his undertak- 
ings and enterprises, there was nothing he shrank from 
because of the toil, and nothing he feared because of the 
danger. " 

Charlemagne was very fond of visiting the schools 
which he had established, and listening to the boys at 
their lessons. In one of these visits he was told that the 
noblemen's sons were much more idle than those of the 
common citizens. At this, frowning and flushing up, with 
flashing eyes he called the young nobles to him, and said, 
" You think you are grand gentlemen ! You are puffed up 
on account of your rank, and take it for granted that you 
have no need of learning ; but you are nothing but young 
puppets. I can assure you that your lofty airs, your 
nobility, and your high notions amount to nothing with 
me; beware young men! for without diligence and consci- 
entious study you will receive no favors." 

Charlemag-ne brought from Rome the same taste for 



48 Germany : Her People and TJieir Story. 

beautiful music which prevails in Germany to-day. It 
was he who introduced the Gregorian Chant and other 
chorals. He shared the opinion, of the Italians when 
they said that the Franks had little aptitude for music, 
and compared their singing to the howling of wild beasts 
and the noise made by the squeaking and groaning wheels 
of a baggage-wagon over a stony road. 

Charlemagne was no spendthrift of time. During all 
his leisure hours he conversed with the learned, and even 
at meal-time had books read to him, among which was 
Augustine's "City of God." Notwithstanding the duties 
of his public career, he became a cultivated scholar in 
many branches. Although he learned to speak Latin 
fluently, he and his court still continued the use of the 
German tongue ; yet in his time the basis of modern 
French was laid, which was called Langue d'oil, in con- 
trast to the Provencal dialect, Langue d'oc. 

Charlemagne cultivated the fine arts, often rising in 
the night to study astronomy. He also encouraged arch- 
itecture, building several palaces and basilicas, which 
became models for fine structures for several centuries 
after. He taught civil engineering, and had bridges built ; 
it was he who planned the canal which Louis I. of Ba- 
varia completed at the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, connecting the Main with the Regnitz, and forming 
a waterway across the country from the Rhine to the 
Danube, thus uniting the German Ocean with the Black 
Sea. 

Charlemagne's daughters spent their leisure in making 
duplicates of all the ancient manuscripts, a task which 
naturally belonged to the monks. He paid largely for 
original copies wherever found, and collected them as a 
library, which he established in his own palace at Aix-la- 
Chapelle. He superintended the compiling of a German 



Comments oi Cliai'lemagne'' s Character. 49 

grammar and also a collection of the German national 
patriotic ballads, songs, and legends. These, unfortu- 
nately, were destroyed in the time of his son Louis the 
Pious, a man entirely in the hands of the priests, who 
considered national songs pagan in character. 

At twenty-four years of age, when Charlemagne as- 
cended the throne, he was in person huge and strong. 
He could easily snap a horseshoe with- his hand; and 
having the muscular power of heroes of song, it was only 
sport for him to fight the gigantic wild bulls in the forest 
of Ardennes. His face was commanding and noble, with 
large eyes, arched forehead, and blond hair, the impres- 
sion of his intellectual power being heightened by his 
quiet dignity. His manner of dress was simple in the 
extreme ; he always wore a linen shirt, spun and woven 
by his daughters, and over this a jacket with a silk lining, 
trousers, stockings, and shoes completing his outfit. He 
covered his shoulders and chest by a protector of otter 
skin, his outside garment being a stout dark-green coat. 
He was always seen with a sword girded around him, the 
handle and belt of which were usually of gold ; on the 
pommel of this weapon his seal was engraved ; when once 
this was put to a command, he would say to any prince 
whom he had found obstinate : " Here is my mandate, and 
here" — shaking the sword — "is that which will render 
obedience to it." On special occasions he carried a 
sword richly set with jewels. He would hear nothing of 
foreign clothing, however costly, except while in Rome, 
when at the request of the Pope, he submitted to wearing 
a long cape and a purple coat. At great feasts he ap- 
peared in gold-inserted clothes, shoes set with jewels, and 
a coat held together by a gold buckle, his head then being 
ornamented with a gold crown which sparkled with dia- 
monds. On work-days he could hardly be distinguished 



50 Gennany : Her People and Tlieir Story. 

in outward appearance from the common people. He 
very seldom gave dinners, partaking of food and drink 
but moderately. He was a good talker, and conversed 
intelligently on all subjects, entertaining his friends, and 
admitting people to audiences on business when dressing. 
He was terrible in crushing whoever interfered with his 
work ; but at the banquet, or following the chase, or in 
the family circle, no one was more frank, joyous, and 
kindly than Charlemagne. 

As a boy he had not learned to write ; for up to the time 
of the royal stewards, all the Germans, to a certain 
extent, had been barbarians. Although their language 
was cultivated in poetical form and heroic songs, the 
scorn for learning, engendered earlier by the priests, was 
kept up until Charlemagne ascended the throne. His 
education had been neglected in his youth ; but when he 
became the ruler of his vast Empire, he tried to copy the 
letters in the alphabet of the language which he could 
read so well. So persevering was he that he kept paper 
and slates under his pillow with which to while away the 
wakeful hours of the night. But the strong muscles of 
his hand, so skilful in wielding the sword, were never 
supple enough to guide that mighty instrument, which, in 
the last years of the nineteenth century, conquers the 
world. His name, carved so unerringly on history's page, 
was never inscribed by his own hand. This was his 
mark: '^'' Signum, (t), Caroli gloriossissimi regis.'''' (Signa- 
ture of Charles, the most glorious king) or, as we should 
say, " Charles, f, his mark." 

In his latter days Charlemagne withdrew from the gaze 
of men, and accepted as his right the worship of his sub- 
jects, who entertained the sentiment of Athanaric, one of 
the first of the West Gothic kings : " Doubtless the em- 
peror is a god on earth, and he who attacks him is guilty 



Comments on Cliarlcuiagne^ s Character. 51 

of his own blood." At this period of Charlemagne's life, 
only a favored few could approach him ; on very few im- 
portant occasions only was he seen in public, in the full 
pomp of imperial splendor. He has been called the ideal 
" Kaiser ; " and it was in his time that the word " Kaiser," 
from the Latin Caesar, was first used as the technical 
name for the German Emperor, as later the word Czar, 
also from Casar, became the title for the ruler of Russia. 

A contemporary writer says of Charlemagne : " It is 
not possible to imagine the grief of the inhabitants of the 
earth and the nations around, who mourned him as the 
great father of mankind, for he had held the Empire 
by his own tenacity and strength." Soon after his death, 
although Charlemagne had desired national unity, the 
government was divided up, being gradually absorbed by 
the different provinces of Germany. However, it was 
afterwards proved that he did, in fact, what both he and 
Theodoric the Great tried to do, and what Washington 
really did for us, — he made of the German nation a 
unit, which, notwithstanding all subsequent disagreements 
and drawing apart, finally became the solid foundation 
on which the present German nation stands. 

After Charlemagne, during the next thousand years 
there were six dynasties, from which many strong rulers 
came. In these different lines, besides the rest of the 
Carlovingian kings, were the Saxons, the Franconians, 
the Hohenstaufen, followed by a mixed dynasty, and then 
the Hapsburg Emperors, eighteen in number. 



52 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE CARLOVINGIAN LINE CONTINUED. 

Louis the Pious. Karloman. 

LoTHAiR I. Charles III. (The Fat). 

Louis II. Arnulf. 

Charles II. (The Bald). Louis IV. (The Child). 



814—912 A.D. 



T' 



^'HE merry court of Charlemagne now put on the 
X aspect of a monastery. Louis the Pious, or the 
Debonair (the gentle, or, the "well-intentioned " as one 
American historian explained), was the last surviving 
heir of Charlemagne ; for among the reverses of his later 
days was the loss of two able sons. Louis was so much 
engaged in the work of the Church that he relaxed all the 
regulations for carrying on the government and sustaining 
the army which had made his father's rule so efficient, the 
feudal tenures as early as his reign becoming almost he- 
reditary. Such a weak tool did he become in the hands 
of the clergy, that in 817, three years after his succession, 
influenced by the Church, he partitioned the realm between 
himself and his three sons, Lothair, Pepin, and Louis, 
excluding from any part in the government his nephew 
Bernhard, Charlemagne's grandson through his deceased 
son Charles. On account of this injustice to Bernhard 
and his partiality in general, there were continual distur- 
bances throughout the reign of Louis. His second wife, 
Judith, was a daughter of Welf, a Bavarian count, from 



TJic Carlovingiaii Line Continued. 53 

whom descended the present royal family of England. Ju- 
dith gained great ascendency over him, and influenced him 
to bestow upon their son, Charles the Bald, portions of the 
kingdom before given to his elder sons, until finally even 
the Pope took sides with the latter, and Louis, abandoned 
by everybody, was forced to abdicate, and was left to die 
in a deserted camp called "The Field of Lies." 

After this, amongst the numerous battles between the 
armies of the brothers, the one at Fontenay, at the " Brook 
of Burgundians," 843 a.d., was the decisive encounter, 
resulting in the Treaty of Verdun. After this treaty 
Charlemagne's Empire was never again for any length of 
time entire, being divided into France, Germany, and 
Italy. Lothair received Italy, Burgundy, and Lorraine ; 
Charles the Bald, as King of France, received the ter- 
ritory east of the Rhone, which was at first called Caro- 
lingia after him, but subsequently received the name of 
France from the Franks. Louis, King of Germany, had 
the province east of the Rhine. The Treaty of Verdun 
marks the beginning of Germany and France as different 
nationalities ; and we now commence with the German na- 
tion, on the very soil where we first found it, and the word 
" Deutsch " (from Teutsch, Teutons), which we translate 
as " German," now first came into general use. Thus the 
Germans separated themselves from the Latin races. 

A new nation was soon developed in Lorraine, and 
a new language was formed from the Roman. It was 
a mixture of Latin and Gothic. With the Gothic and 
Lombard languages was the beginning of our modern 
French. In 846, when the oath of friendship was re- 
newed between the sovereigns, Louis the German and 
Charles the Bald, their soldiers could not understand the 
words of the agreement, and each ruler translated his own 
part to the other. Also at the Treaty of Verdun the sov- 



54 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

ereigns had taken the oath each in his own language, 
old German and primitive French respectively. This new 
name, Lorraine, was given to the province in honor of 
Lothair, which in German was called Lotharingen (Loth- 
ringen), and in French Lorraine. 

The kingdom had many unnatural divisions, the strip 
west of the Rhine, from Basel to Mainz, " for the sake of 
the wine," so the document stated, being given to Louis, 
henceforth called the German ; while the slice from the 
Mediterranean to the North Sea, given to Lothair, was 
unwieldy in shape and hard to govern. Lothair found it 
so, and after a few years gave it up, retiring into a monas- 
tery, where soon after he died, leaving his son Louis as 
his heir. The latter ruled twenty years as Emperor, under 
the title of Louis 11. After his death the united kingdoms 
were divided between the remaining brothers, Louis the 
German and Charles the Bald. As an independent sov- 
ereign, Louis IL governed Germany with great ability for 
thirty-six years, dying at the age of seventy-one. He had 
sat on the knee of his grandfather, Charlemagne, and 
remembered all he said to him as a boy. 

Louis the German left as his heirs Karloman and Louis 
the Younger, while Charles the Bald ruled as Emperor. 
Karloman, however, soon attacked his uncle, Charles the 
Bald, in his kingdom, and drove him to the Alps, where 
he died in 877 a.d., after which Karloman became Em- 
peror and Louis the Younger ruled over Saxony. After 
much contention, and when all the other legitimate heirs 
had died, Charles the Fat, son of Karloman, succeeded to 
the throne and for a short time the Empire was undivided. 
Charles the Fat was harassed by foes on all sides as his 
father had been, the Normans sweeping down in piratical 
expeditions, while the Wends and Bohemians kept up 
their warfare along the frontier. Lothair had invited these 



TJic Carlovingian Line Continued. 55 

barbarians, together with the Magyars, into the country 
to fight Iiis brothers, and they ever after did the people 
mucli harm. A story is told that when the Saxons and 
Thuringians came home defeated from a battle with these 
people, their wives rose up and flogged them for their 
cowardice. 

Charles the Fat was too weak to hold the power, and 
was soon deposed, dying poor and forlorn. The natural 
son of Karloman, grandson of Louis the German, Arnulf 
by name, succeeded him. He was the last lineal descen- 
dant of Charlemagne, and was as wise and brave as he was 
able and efficient. He was the greatest sovereign since 
Charlemagne, making everything and everybody, includ- 
ing the Pope, subject to his will. He defeated the Nor- 
mans in their fortified camps, and made them so afraid of 
the Germans that they never troubled the latter again. 
Finally Arnulf brought the whole Empire, including the 
provinces of Italy, which had reverted to the Roman 
princes, under his dominion. He was crowned Roman 
Emperor in 899 a.d., and died in 902 from the effects of 
a lingering poison administered three years before. 

Arnulf's son, a boy of seven years, known in history 
as Louis the Child, was the last of the Carlovingian line, 
while Charles the Silly, son of Charles the Bald, was also 
closing this dynasty in France. After this the history of 
the two nations gradually separates; but the events in 
French history for the next few years are no less interest- 
ing than those of Germany, which we follow out. 

Bishop Hatto was placed in charge of the young prince, 
Louis, and for a time ruled the Empire. It was he who 
burned the starving people in a great barn on the Rhine, 
and he was the famous "Bishop" of the well-known 
legend, "The Mouse Tower on the Rhine," which Long- 
fellow has referred to in his verses, "The Children's 



56 Germany : Her People a)id Their Story. 

Hour," and which the English poet Southey memorial- 
ized in a well-known poem. 

At the age of eighteen Louis the Child, at the head of 
the German army, took the field against the Hungarians, 
who swept down upon the Germans like the old race of 
Huns. The flower of the German nobility were gradually 
exterminated; and Louis, after being conquered again 
and again, was utterly defeated, and even compelled for 
some years to pay the Hungarians a tribute. He died in 
911, before he was of age. 



TJie Feudal System. 57 



CHAPTER V. 

THE FEUDAL SYSTEM. THE AGE OF CHIVALRY. THE 

MIDDLE AND DARK AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE. 

IN the time of the "Lazy kings," the last days of the 
Merovingian dynasty, wlien the royal stewards were 
coming into power, the Feudal System took the shape 
which continued to develop new features until it began 
to decline in the eleventh or twelfth centuries. The 
practice which arose near the close of the Roman Em- 
pire of allowing great proprietors to absorb all the lands 
was no doubt the germ from which this system originally 
sprung; but it perhaps took root even earlier, when the 
German mercenaries first gave their military service in 
exchange for Roman land. From that early date it had 
been the custom of all conquerors to claim a third of the 
territory which fell into their hands, and the Franks as a 
nation had been very tenacious in asserting their right to 
such land. A small part of these conquered provinces 
was given to the soldiers; a part was the common prop- 
erty of the people, and was called "public lands;" but 
the largest portion was set aside for the royal house. 

In the time of so much contention and so many con- 
quests, a very large number of estates reverted to the 
king and chiefs of tribes, and were disposed of by the 
royal stewards in what seemed the most judicious way ; 
therefore these were rented to the freedmen on condition 
of their being followers of their superiors and doing ser- 
vice in war. Sometimes they received the soil for life, 



58 Gcrmajiy : Her People and Their Stojy. 

and this was called a life-tenure. The land thus rented 
was called a fief (feudum) or feod ; the hold upon it being 
a " feudal tenure," and the system a " lien " {leihen, to 
lend), so called to distinguish it from the "allodial sys- 
tem." The "allod" was that land which was given to 
the soldier or freedman by allotment in the first division 
of the conquered territory, and was the freedman's allodial 
or allotted share. 

As has been said, in return for this "feudal tenure," 
the " lien " by which they held their fiefs, the freedmen 
were bound to give their count or knight homage and 
service, and in war to furnish a certain number of men, 
who must be ready at any moment to appear at the castle 
of their lord, especially in case of sudden attack ; these 
men were called his retainers or vassals. There was a 
class of people whose property was slipping from their 
grasp, as often happens in our country with respect to 
those who have mortgaged their land ; these were poor 
freedmen, persons ruined by taxation, and the owners of 
small "allods." This class was glad to give up the rem- 
nant of its property to some powerful lord, receiving it 
back as a "fief " in exchange for the protection and emolu- 
ments he was able to give. Even great nobles became 
vassals of the king in return for his rich gifts, while kings 
of small principalities were themselves vassals of other 
kings with reference to estates lying outside of their own 
land ; thus William the Conqueror of England, as Duke 
of Normandy in France, became a vassal of the French 
king. Nobles also were vassals to each other by ex- 
change of property and pledges of fealty. So gradually, 
from the Dark Ages and through mediaeval times, Europe 
became a connected system of fiefs; and society, from 
the poorest freedman, consisted of a chain of ranks, each 
retaining from the class above it. 



TJie Feudal System. 59 

This is what took place in a country about to go to 
war : the king summoned his vassals or retainers to ap- 
pear in the field with their retinue ; these vassals, gen- 
erally the chief nobles of the kingdom, made a similar 
claim upon their retainers, the smaller proprietors; and 
they in their turn summoned the farmers and yeomen who 
stood to them in the relation of serfs. These serfs were 
not actual slaves, since they could not be bought and sold ; 
but they were bound to the land by a life-tenure. 

Up to the time of Henry I. (about 900 a.d.), the army 
consisted of bands of freedmen, each armed at the cost 
of his feudal superior, and each following under the ban- 
ner of his chief. This "lien system," in giving rise to a 
class who were dependent on the favor of a chief or king, 
made it necessary that whenever the latter appeared in the 
national assembly, the retainer should vote on his side ; 
therefore whoever gained possession of the most wealth 
in lands could command the most votes in behalf of the 
enterprise which was on hand. It was as though our 
President, Senators, or Representatives could by wealth 
gain a monopoly of United States territory, and by letting 
it out to farmers on condition of having their votes, could 
gain great influence in the affairs of the government. In 
such a case all offices of trust would be controlled by mo- 
nopolists, and all liberty would be at an end. 

A fief consisted of two things, — the castle in which the 
proprietor lived with his family and men-at-arms, and the 
village, whose inhabitants were called "villeins," and were 
the parties renting the land or serving for wages. There 
were also the serfs bound to the soil, who could not 
change their abode, marry, or dispose of property, with- 
out the permission of their lord. These gradations formed 
a system of hierarchies, where all were vassals except the 
chief or king himself. 



6o Gennany : Her People and Their Story. 

Charlemagne required all his nobles to take the oath of 
'.assals under him; and although people could be vassals 
without holding lands, they could not hold lands without 
being vassals. By these arbitrary methods he helped to 
build up a system of feudal tenures, the foundation of 
which had been laid in barbaric times. Many of the wise 
think that feudalism in the Dark Ages was a necessity in 
order to consolidate and centralize rule, and that it was 
needed in Charlemagne's time in order to repel the inroads 
of people not yet disinthralled from barbarism, who would 
otherwise have overthrown his institutions, and stopped 
the progress he so much desired. For such people feu- 
dalism was a rise in the social scale : " It was better that 
they should till the lands of allodial proprietors in misery 
and sorrow, attacked and pillaged, than to wander like 
savages in forests and marshes in predatory bands." 
Charlemange never doubted that he was ameliorating the 
condition of the people; and the people, believing im- 
plicitly in him, did not think of questioning the justice of 
his motives. It afterwards proved, however, that he was 
preparing weakness and humiliation for those coming after. 
Such was the influence of feudalism, that in the eleventh 
century, when the Dark Ages drew to a close, the social con- 
dition was undermined. Then no law was binding; reli- 
gion was only a sentiment, and love a phantom of the brain. 

Feudalism has been painted in "roseate hues" by nov- 
elists and poets, for the outgrowth of it was chivalry. 
Those old feudal castles on the Rhine, in the high places 
of Switzerland, and amidst England's fair scenes, with 
the barbacan, the portcullis, the moats and thick walls, the 
drawbridges and courts, are all alive to-day with memories 
of chivalrous knights and their daring deeds undertaken 
in behalf of fair women. " Love of God and the ladies " 
was enjoined as the duty of the knight. 



TJie Age of Chivalry. 6i 

When the little boy of seven years became the page 
of some fair lady his career of chivalric knighthood had 
begun ; he must follow the ladies of the mansion, attend 
them in their walks, hold their trains in social festivities, 
and perform all the little offices which society required. 

The moral and religious training of the boy was in- 
trusted to these ladies, and was as diligently attended to 
as the other branches of the course. He was taught obe- 
dience and courtesy, he was instructed in music, chess, 
and the use of light arms. Being always associated with 
nobles, gentlewomen, and valiant knights, his earliest im- 
pressions were those of honor, of valor, and of gallan- 
try ; while love, in the boy's eyes, was a sacred thing; for 
respect toward woman was born in the Aryan days, and 
nursed in the German forests at the time when among the 
nobles in Italy Roman civilization was blotting out these 
traits. Even the old Cimbrian women had held aloft the 
banners and chanted war-songs for the inspiration of their 
heroes, while the Goths, in their wanderings, had kept 
their wives with them. Chivalry developed all the respect 
of the pages into admiration and love, which savored of a 
kind of worship. 

The page was taught to bear himself with grace, dex- 
terity, and promptness in attending to all the ladies' 
wants. There were regular schools of chivalry, but usu- 
ally the castles of the nobles were training-schools for the 
knights. The most renowned and wealthy knights had 
their castles full of these embryo nobles, — boys who 
belonged to the families of their acquaintance ; for each 
noble preferred to trust his children to the hands of a 
renowned knight, rather than to undertake their education 
himself, fearing that home government would have in it 
an element of weakness which would counteract the end 
sought in chivalry. Sometimes children of the poorer 



62 Gcr77iany : Her People and Their Story. 

aristocracy would find themselves in the same feudal cas- 
tle and on terms of equality with the sons of princes. 

At the age of fourteen the page received the military 
belt and sword at the altar, and became a squire. After 
this his severe training began; for instead of ladies, he 
waited upon lords, and he must now endure fatigues of 
all kinds, — he must attack mimic fortresses, spring upon 
a horse in full career without the aid of a stirrup, leap to 
the shoulder of a mounted man by the help of only one 
arm. His office, too, was sometimes menial : he led the 
horses of the knights, carried their helmets, shields, and 
lances; he took part in active combat, a line of squires 
always being found behind a line of knights. He waved 
the knight's pennant, and the banner of the banneret was 
held aloft by him. Also, listening to minstrels who sung 
of love and war, he learned to write odes. 

At the age of twenty-one the squire was made a knight. 
As the time approached, his religious exercises were con- 
scientiously kept up, for piety was closely akin to chivalry ; 
he fasted, he confessed and was absolved, and was thought 
to be a new man. He was then clothed in a white tunic, 
symbol of purity, a red robe, significant of the blood he 
was bound to shed for religion and right, and over these 
a black coat, the emblem of death which awaits all. 
Then, having heard a sermon on knightly duties and his 
new life, he took the communion. As he knelt at the 
altar the priest blessed him, and returned to him the 
sword of a knight which he wore suspended on his breast ; 
then the knights and ladies armed him, buckling his spurs 
and girding on his sword, whereupon he took the vow. 
The vow was this: "That he would be a good, brave, 
loyal, just, generous, and gentle knight ; that he would be 
a champion of the Church and clergy; that he would be a 
protector of ladies ; that he would be a redresser of the 



TJie Age of Chivalry. 63 

wrongs of widows and orphans." He was then adopted, 
a lord approaching him and giving him blows with his 
sword and palm of the hand three times on the cheek, 
saying : '• In the name of God, of St. Michael, and St. 
George, I dub thee knight." Then, with helmet on, bran- 
dishing his sword and lance, he rode away. 

Noble birth was the principal requisite for knight- 
hood, though wealth was necessary to support the posi- 
tion. Knights were first called "bas chevaliers," or 
bachelors. 

Chivalry, like a kind of freemasonry, bound all the aris- 
tocracy together, and made knight and squire of hostile 
nations one in sympathy. When newly made, they were 
always anxious to contend in the lists for the purpose of 
showing their valor. A knight could not tourney without 
a name. It was no uncommon thing for troops of knights 
to be led to the lists by ladies, each lady leading a knight 
by a chain of silver or gold. Everything was arranged 
to show the greatest deference to the fair sex, for this 
was the distinctive feature of chivalry. The knight must 
always come to the rescue of a woman in danger or dis- 
tress, and to insult a lady or reveal her secrets was lasting 
ignominy. She bestowed the prize of valor at tourna- 
ments ; gayly mounted on her steed she accompanied her 
husband to the chase. At the joust, mock combats were 
engaged in; but these differed from the tournament in 
that the ladies were not present, the joust being often 
undertaken to resent insults to a woman. The duel was 
the outgrowth of the joust. 

In the Middle Ages woman became the object of wor- 
ship and devotion ; she was " the presiding genius of the 
castle, regent of thrones, heir to crowns, and manager of 
great estates." The gallant warrior blended "adoration 
of our Lord with adoration of our Lady." The mother 



64 Germajiy : Her People and Their Story. 

of Christ was the type of woman, the example for ever- 
lasting veneration ; every kniglit and squire, and even the 
little page, had some woman as the object of dutiful re- 
gard. The feudal lady ignored all degrees of merit, since 
all knights were supposed to be the soul of honor. To- 
day it is the model American mother who claims the 
chivalrous regard of her sons ; these good men are our 
knight-errants. But the position of woman to-day in civil- 
ized countries is said to be a consequence of those days 
of chivalry. 

Chivalry rose to its zenith in the eleventh and twelfth 
centuries ; in the fifteenth it passed out of history, for as 
royal power increased, feudalism was gradually annihi- 
lated. It had sprung from the peculiarities of the Teuton 
race, the high place which the profession of arms held, 
united at the same time with a delicate sense of honor 
with reference to woman. 

During the centuries that feudalism held sway, chivalry" 
Ihad a wonderful influence in the habits and thoughts of 
all the Western nations of Europe. The power of the 
priesthood modified all laws ; theft of church property 
had to be paid back ninefold ; slaves of priests were val- 
ued at double the amount of those of laymen ; no crinv 
inal could be seized at the foot of the altar. Those whoV 
'neglected to attend church three times on the Sabbatli 
were punished by the loss of a third of their property, ancl^ 
for a second offence were made slaves. 

Chivalry softened the character and manners of the old 
robber barons, who dwelt upon the heights and lived by 
plunder ; it gradually brought them out of barbarism, and, 
on account of a certain sense of honor, it often saved 
them from crime, and kept them from many of the cruel- 
ties engendered by feudalism. All the good that was in 
chivalry and its civilizing influences has survived, and is 



The Middle and Dark Ages and Renaissance. 65 

still active, while the last vestiges of its evils are rapidly 
passing away. 

The periods of history from the Christian era are marked 
and definite. Roman civilization held its place until the 
fourth century. From the time of its final extinction, in 
the fifth century, which was the beginning of the Dark 
Ages, to the eleventh century, the end of that dismal 
period, the melancholy spectacle of almost total darkness 
was presented. This had been brought about by a re- 
lapse into barbarism. But the Roman Empire did not fall 
from forces outside of itself; it was its own weakness and 
decay that invited the attacks. From the eleventh cen- 
tury monarchial rule grew stronger, and what they called 
in Louis Xlth's time "kingcraft" became more adroit. 
Feudalism had received its death-blow, local rulers and 
lords became subject to the will of kings, the bondage of 
the serfs began to weaken, and the middle classes grew 
self-respecting and felt their power increase. 

The epoch reckoned as the ''Middle Ages'' occupies 
the time from the end of the fifth century to the close of 
the fifteenth century, and " the period of the Renaissance 
was the last stage of the Middle Ages emerging from the 
night of ecclesiastical and feudal despotism." This era 
developed the ideas that had been germinating during 
mediaeval times. It was the day-star coming after medi- 
aeval night ; it held in itself the promise of the modern 
world about to come into the light. 

In 1453 Constantinople, the capital that Constantine the 
Great had chosen, fell into the hands of the Turks. This 
event, together with the decline of what had been called 
the Holy Roman German Empire, was like the removal 
of a Upas poison ; for the alliance with Italy had retarded 
Germany's consolidation hundreds of years. The Renais- 
sance was the death-blow to Catholic unity, while in Ger- 



66 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

many it was the commencement of the humanistic feel- 
ing which awakened the sentiment of liberty and brought 
about the Reformation. 

The Renaissance was the dawn of all modern improve- 
ments. It opened paths never dreamed of in the solar 
system, and above all it brought about the discovery of 
our dear native land. 



TJie Saxon Kings. Gy 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE SAXON KINGS. 
Conrad I. Henry I. (The Fowler). 

912 — 936 A.D. 

THE reign of the Saxon kings is one of the most inter- 
esting epochs in German history. It was the begin- 
ning of the age of chivalry, and the commencement of the 
struggle for Papal power which lasted through the Middle 
Ages, it being only put down after the Reformation had 
done its work. 

The deeds of the wise and noble Henry I., followed by 
those of his son Otto the Great, form a romance of more 
thrilling interest than can be derived from fiction. The 
calm moderation of Henry's life, the great wisdom shown 
in all his acts, light up the period of the Dark Ages with 
noon-day brightness. Coming out of the barbarism before 
him, and followed by the complications which feudalism 
had engendered, his life shone like a streak of sunshine 
between the clouds. His government was not distin- 
guished for the resplendency of glory which characterized 
the reign of Charlemagne before him, and predominated 
in that of his son Otto coming immediately after ; his 
sovereignty was of a nobler order, since his personal 
interests were submerged in the common good. 

But before these two illustrious sovereigns reigned, the 
throne was occupied by a Franconian, who, although a 
Carlovingian through a female line, is generally reckoned 
among the Saxon kings. 



68 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

After the line of the Carlovingian kings became extinct, 
through the death of Louis the Child, the German crown 
was offered to Henry of Saxony's father. Otto the Illustri- 
ous, who, being old, resigned the proffered honor in favor 
of Conrad I., the Franconian. 

In the choice of Conrad originated the idea of the 
"College of Electors." Germany at that time became 
an elective empire ; nevertheless, it continued, to a certain 
extent, hereditary, since it was customary for the electors 
to choose from the sovereign's family or in conformity to 
his wishes. 

It was well said of Conrad I. that " nothing in his 
life became him like the leaving it," and that his greatest 
achievement was conquering himself for the sake of his 
kingdom, which he left to his enemy, Henry the Saxon. 

Conrad was a man of agreeable presence and dignity 
of manner, and a favorite with the people, but a weak 
prince, and almost entirely subject to the Church. Not 
understanding the art of government, he could not adapt 
himself to the exigencies of the troublous times, while 
his attitude to the clergy gave them a prestige which was 
a bane to the people for hundreds of years. In the con- 
test with the Duke of Saxony, afterwards Henry I., there 
was a great battle fought at Ehresburg, in which Conrad's 
army was cut to pieces. A Saxon song of victory written 
at the time says, "The lower world was too small to re- 
ceive the throng of the enemies slain." This war came 
about through a trouble with Archbishop Hatto, who, with 
the best intentions probably, had sent Henry of Saxony 
a spiral necklace. This closed so tightly about his neck, 
that, not understanding its mechanism, Henry was only 
rescued from strangling by having the chain cut. He was 
very angry, declaring that the archbishop had intended 
to suffocate him ; and thereupon, with an armed force, he 



The Saxoji Ki7igs. 69 

entered the territory of the prelate. Conrad I. at once 
came to the rescue of his friend the archbisliop, and this 
terrible battle just referred to ensued. 

There are some pleasing anecdotes told of Conrad, 
which exhibit his genial character as well as his devo- 
tion to the Church. He was in the habit of visiting the 
monasteries, and sitting down with the monks at the 
table to partake of their scanty fare. One day he came 
to St. Gallen, and said to the monks, " You must share 
with me whether you will or not." — "We have but poor 
fare to-day," said the superior ; " for to-morrow there will 
be new bread and beans." At this same convent Conrad 
scattered red apples before the boys, who were made to 
march through the garden for his entertainment ; but so 
intent were they on their duty that they did not even 
look at the apples, much less try to pick them up. Con- 
rad was much pleased with their excellent training, and 
told the abbot that from that time they must have three 
extra holidays in the year. 

In 919 A.D. Conrad, having been mortally wounded in 
trying to repel one of the numerous invasions of the 
Hungarians, summoned his brother Eberhard, when he 
saw death approaching, and calling the nobles about 
him, gave into their hands the treasures of the kingdom. 
These treasures were the sacred lance, golden armlets, 
the sword, and the purple mantle of the old kings. In 
all German coronations the pictures exhibit the king 
arrayed in these vestments. Conrad bade them pass 
these with the crown into the hands of his enemy, Henry 
Duke of Saxony. 

When the envoys went to inform Henry of his election, 
they found him in the pleasant valley of the Hartz Moun- 
tains catching finches with a falcon on his wrist. Ever 
since he has been known in history as " Henry the Fowler." 



70 Germany : Her People atid Their Story. 

He was not only himself descended from Wittikind through 
the daughter of the latter, who married a noble and founded 
the " House of Ludolfs," but his estimable wife Mathilda 
was also, through the house of Westphalia, a descendant 
of the same old Saxon. 

By forbearance, generosity, and genuine statesmanship 
Henry gained over the nobles whom Conrad had indis- 
creetly estranged ; for when he himself was Duke of 
Saxony he had felt too thoroughly independent of the 
king to use violent means in bringing the nobles under 
the royal sway when he became king. He also, by skil- 
ful diplomacy, soon won back Lorraine and Alsace from 
Charles the Simple, giving his daughter in marriage to 
Giselbert, their duke; thus he incorporated these prov- 
inces into the German kingdom, where they remained 
for eight hundred years, until Louis XIV. snatched them 
from Germany's hands. 

The altercation with reference to the provinces of 
Alsace and Lorraine, which began in Conrad's time, is 
especially interesting, for the question of ownership has 
been the bone of contention ever since, having caused 
much strife, and is still the ever-smouldering ember 
which threatens any moment to burst into flame. At the 
Treaty of Verdun, 843 a.d., though both the French and 
Germans desired the province, it was given to the Romans 
under Lothair; after this it had been taken and retaken 
several times until this conquest, which, by means of 
Henry's statesmanship, secured it to Germany for a long 
period. 

At the end of five years, in 924, while engaged in 
peaceful pursuits in the interests of his country, he was 
startled by the invasions of the Hungarians, or Magyars 
as they were called, who came, asking to have the tribute 
restored which had been granted at the time of Louis the 



The Saxon Kijigs. 71 

Child. Although the nobles were not much pleased at 
the truce Henry made with the Hungarians, in the end it 
proved to be by far the wisest course. He agreed to pay 
them tribute for nine years, at the same time giving up 
one of their princes who had fallen into his hands. Im- 
mediately he commenced a systematic work of improving 
the facilities of the kingdom, which gained him the title 
of the "• First Founder of the German Empire." Others 
have called him the "Second Founder;" but Charle- 
magne's ambition, as well as that of most of the German 
kings who were crowned at Rome, was to found an Au- 
gustan Empire for the Romans, while Henry's aspiration 
was a united Fatherland. 

At this time there were few cities in the north of Ger- 
many and no fortified towns. Therefore Henry com- 
menced building a series of impregnable enclosures, 
compelling one man out of every nine to live in these 
strongholds. He required that a third of the annual 
provisions should be placed in the storehouses of these 
cities as a necessary precaution against the chance of 
attack and a long siege ; he also commanded that all 
fairs and festivities should be held inside the walls. He 
built Meissen, Meersburg, Quedlinburg, and other forti- 
fied towns, thus gaining the name of " Founder of Cities." 
These walled towns were called "Burgs," and the men 
who lived within them were called "Burghers." They 
were ready for military service in case of war, but in 
times of peace they carried on all kinds of business and 
commercial affairs; thus there was behind these walls not 
only protection from danger, but by degrees prosperity. 

In this way Henry secured a regular army: and seeing 
that his men fighting on foot were no match for the fleet 
horses of the Hungarians, he formed for the first time 
a cavalry system. He also introduced the tournament, 



72 Germany : Her People mid TJieir Story. 

which in connection with his cavalry became very cele- 
brated in the Age of Chivalry. This was the way knight- 
hood originated. The younger brothers of the nobles 
were a set of men who did not know exactly how to em- 
ploy their time; being too proud to serve in the army, 
some were obliged to hire themselves to different counts 
for all kinds of nominal service, while others robbed on 
the highways. Henry gave the robbers a free pardon, 
mounted them on horseback, and called them knights. 
He imposed upon them certain conditions, which made 
the rank of knighthood one of honor; and thus the Age 
of Chivalry began. Henry required of those who were to 
become knights proofs of their worthiness. A discussion 
between Henry and these very dukes whom he had paci- 
fied shows how chivalrous he and his nobles were. Henry 
said, "The knight should not by word or deed wrong the 
Mother Church." Count Paladin added, "Nor hurt the 
Holy Roman Empire." Berthold of Bavaria exclaimed, 
" He must not be a liar," "nor," said Herman of Swabia, 
"have injured a weak woman." "No, nor run away in 
battle," cried Conrad of Franconia. Hence these were 
made the laws of knighthood: "To be true to the Church 
and country, true in everything, gentle to women, and 
courageous in battle." Although Henry demanded this 
in behalf of the Mother Church, he was the only king of 
his time who was really independent of the clergy. 

After Henry had educated his army in theoretical war- 
fare, in 928 he undertook his only war of conquest, that 
against the Wends, who were a Slavonic tribe and still 
heathens. In conquering the tribe of the Havelli, he 
marched with his army over the ice, and took the fortified 
city called Brennabor, which was surrounded by lakes. 
This was the commencement of the Mark of Brandenburg, 
which, in connection with the Hohenzollern Mark some 



The Saxo7i Kings. 73 

centuries later, formed the basis of the present German 
Empire. By this conquest the northeastern boundary of 
Germany was secured, and the whole region between the 
Elbe and the Oder was laid open to the kingdom. By 
means of other victories Henry annexed Schleswig as well 
as Holstein, and thus opened this vexed " Schleswig-Hol- 
stein " question to Germany. With these provinces the 
Netherlands and Holland also came to Germany. 

Henry was now regarded as the greatest sovereign of 
the Western World and England offered the beautiful 
princess Edith as a bride for Otto, his son. 

In 933 Henry felt himself equal to a war with the 
Hungarians, whose attacks he had been warding off for 
nine years. So he called his nobles about him, and 
pointed out the abject position in which they placed them- 
selves in giving tribute to the Hungarians. The nobles 
sustained him unanimously ; and when the time came 
round for the annual tribute, Henry is said to have thrown 
a "mangy dog" to the Hungarians. Not understanding 
the acquired resources of the country, they came down 
upon the kingdom with a large force ; but with Henry's 
well-organized army and mounted cavalry he soon won a 
complete victory over them, the consequences of which 
lasted for many years. 

By these victories and his superior methods of warfare, 
he revived German valor, guarded the interests of the 
state, built up its industries, and elevated the standard of 
the people. Before his time there had been no trades, 
each noble having one of his men make his own and his 
horses' shoes, model his saddle, and construct each piece 
of armor; when he was hungry some one shot the pheas- 
ant for dinner, or caught the fish from the pond. There 
were then only the beautiful wild-flowers which grow so 
abundantly in Germany still ; and it was not until many 



74 Germany : Her People and TJieir Story. 

centuries after, when the Huguenots found a refuge in 
Germany, that horticulture was introduced. 

On an old German seal of this period. Bertha, the wife 
of Rudolf II., the king of Swiss Burgundy, is represented 
as sitting on her throne with a spinning-wheel before her, 
spinning-flax from which to weave garments for family 
use. When the Germans wish to express their regret at 
the changes in the good customs of the past, they say, 
"In the old times when good Queen Bertha spun." In 
this same day the only ornaments of the Germans were 
curiously wrought weapons : but in Henry's time trades 
commenced; and as the doctors do in our day, the shoe- 
makers, tanners, tailors, and smiths lived in rows of houses 
by themselves, and in some of the cities those streets re- 
tain their names at the present time. Towns were always 
built on some river or on the sea-coast to facilitate trade 
with foreign nations, so that after this era industries of all 
kinds prospered greatly. 

Henry had been so busy in his home affairs that he had 
found no time to think of going to Rome to be crowned 
ruler of the Roman Empire. Just as he was meditating 
this step, he was seized with a serious illness which resulted 
in a stroke of apoplexy. Calling a Diet at Erfurt, he ex- 
acted a promise from his nobles that they would choose 
his son Otto as his successor. On July 20, 936 a.d., he 
retired to Memleben, where at the age of sixty years, 
amidst the loud sobs and lamentations of the members of 
his family, he quietly breathed his last. He was buried in 
the Cathedral which he had built in the city of Quedlin- 
burg, a town which he had founded some years before. 



Otto the Great. 75 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE SAXON DYNASTY CONTINUED. OTTO THE GREAT. 

936^-973 A.D. 

A WEEK after his father's death, Otto I. and Edith his 
wife were crowned with great splendor in Charle- 
magne's old Cathedral at Aix-la-Chapelle. Seated on the 
very throne of that great Emperor, which was covered 
with gold, Otto was anointed by the Bishop of Mainz, and 
the great dukes were invested with honorary offices in the 
palace. The Duke of Lorraine acted as Chamberlain, the 
Duke of Franconia as Carver, the Duke of Swabia as Cup- 
bearer, and the Duke of Bavaria as Master of the Stables. 
When the dukes went home they were so pleased with 
the ceremonious magnificence of the occasion that they 
appointed counts under them as butlers and servers, 
chamberlains and marshals ; then the bishops did the 
same, making these offices hereditary in certain noble 
families in the land. 

Thenceforth the German kings were crowned four 
times, — at Aix-la-Chapelle as King of the Germans; at 
Monza or Milan as King of Lombardy; at Pavia as King 
of the Romans, and at St. Peter's Church in Rome as 
ruler of the Roman Empire. From this time the title 
was the Holy Roman Empire of the Germans. The full 
consummation, however, was not attained by Otto until a 
few years later. 

The history of Otto's reign fulfilled the promise of his 
coronation. He carried on internal and external wars 



'jS Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

with an energy equal to that of his father, but not always 
with a like discretion, therefore he was not as popular at 
home as his predecessor had been. 

In the early part of his reign the nobles connected 
with his family plotted against him; and, after these re- 
bellions were put down, his brother Henry conspired to 
murder him, arranging that Otto should be slain at the 
Easter service at Quedlinburg. When the plot was dis- 
covered, the accomplices were executed, and Henry thrown 
into prison. The Christmas after, as Otto was celebrat- 
ing mass in the Cathedral, his brother appeared before 
him, deeply repentant. At first Otto felt that he could 
not pardon him; finally, through the influence of the 
bishop, who reminded him of the passage in the Scrip- 
ture where we are commanded to forgive our brother 
seventy times seven, he magnanimously forgave him, and 
bestowed the Dukedom of Bavaria upon him, afterwards 
annexing to his domain the territory on the Adriatic, 
from Venice to Istria. Henry never again proved 
untrue. 

Otto made Bohemia a tributary, and confirmed Schles- 
wig as a part of the German kingdom. He repelled the 
invasions of the Danes under their king, Harold " the 
Blue-toothed," hurling his spear into the sea at the ex- 
tremity of the peninsula of Jutland as a sign that he had 
taken possession of the land. At Augsburg he repulsed 
the Hungarians in their last invasion, these dangerous 
people having become so numerous that they boasted 
that their horses " could drink the German rivers dry, and 
stamp the towns to dust." The Hungarians pushed up 
along the Danube, and turned south through the valley 
of the Leek to the city of Augsburg. They had seen 
only poor villages on the way, and were hungry for spoil ; 
for Augsburg, an old Roman town, whose ancient walls 



Otto the Great. yy 

had been restored, was known to be full of wealthy mer- 
chants. Suspecting mischief, the inhabitants had brought 
all their treasures inside, and manned the citadel before 
the barbarians arrived. 

It was the custom of the Huns, as in the old days of 
Attila, to burn the towns they had plundered, butcher the 
inhabitants, and carry away the remnant of the people as 
slaves. They were mounted at this time, as always, on 
fleet horses, and armed with bows. The Germans up to 
the reign of Henry I. had fought on foot, and were no 
match for these fierce Magyars, since they had for 
weapons only swords, and balls covered with spikes 
attached to a wooden handle ; but these, nevertheless, 
they brought down with considerable effect upon the 
heads of the enemy. 

When the Hungarians halted before Augsburg, much 
to their surprise they saw a city with walls, surrounded 
by a moat filled with water from the river Leek. The 
leaders whirled their long whips and slashed at their men 
to drive them into the ditch and force them through the 
moat, while a gigantic Hungarian stood and blew a horn. 
Then all at once a gate was opened in the wall, a bridge 
was dropped, and out rushed the weavers of Augsburg 
armed with pikes ; falling upon the enemy, they sur- 
rounded and killed the Hungarian chief, and went back 
in triumph, carrying his shield with them. Ever after, to 
this day, the shield has been preserved by the " Guild of 
the weavers." The Hungarians hesitated so long that 
Otto came up behind with an army he had collected, and 
a great battle was fought on the loth of August, 955. 
The fight was desperate, and the plains of rolled white 
limestone glared in the blazing sun. The men inside 
joined with Otto's forces ; however, the fate of the day was 
uncertain until Conrad of Franconia, the brother-in-law 



y8 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

of the Emperor, by his heroism, turned the tide of battle 
in favor of the Germans ; but unable to bear the heat of 
the sun, Conrad took off his burning helmet for a mo- 
ment, when, an arrow piercing his neck, he fell dead. 
One hundred thousand Hungarians perished in the fight, 
and others, plunging into the river to escape the Germans, 
were swept away. This was the last time the Hungarians 
invaded Germany with any considerable force. 

Otto now held a larger domain than his father had 
governed, and the power of the independent rulers was 
weakened. He was respected and feared everywhere, — 
in Western Europe, Constantinople, and Cordova, — and 
he supposed he had laid a permanent basis for German 
power; but he was not so popular with the common people 
as his father or Charlemagne had been. He was cold 
and haughty in manners, and exhibited an inordinate 
ambition, surrounding himself with too much ceremony. 

Internal dissensions continued through many years ; 
but at last there was an end of civil war in Germany, 
and Otto turned his attention to Italy. He crowned his 
son Otto II., a boy of only six years, at Aix-la-Chapelle, 
and placed him and the kingdom under the guardianship 
of Archbishop Bruno of Cologne. Then he contended 
for the crown of the Roman Empire which had alv/ays 
hovered before him, and which now he saw the oppor- 
tunity to grasp. 

Italy had been plunged in anarchy for over sixty years, 
ever since Arnulf, the last but one of the Carlovingians, 
was crowned at Rome. There were several princes who 
had called themselves "King of the Romans," among 
them Lothair, who had wedded the beautiful Adelaide, 
sister of the King of Burgundy. The present king, Beren- 
garius II., tried by force to marry Adelaide, Lothair's 
widow, to his son. He shut her up in prison; but she 



Otto the Great. 79 

escaped, and fled to the Castle of Canossa, whence she 
appealed to Otto for aid. Otto is said to have been a 
model of knightly virtue, a type which was beginning to 
show itself after the brutality of the preceding age. 

The account of Adelaide's rescue at the Castle of 
Canossa is extremely interesting. In order to keep 
her out of the way of Berengarius, she was shut up like 
a prisoner in the citadel, the moat having been filled 
with water, and the drawbridge taken up. To gain admit- 
tance, since it could not be determined whether the en- 
voys outside were friends or foes, the messengers sent to 
deliver her were obliged to tie the letter, with the ring 
from Otto, to an arrow, and shoot it from a bow through 
the window of the castle. 

His amiable wife, Edith, now being dead. Otto sought 
Adelaide in marriage, and forced Berengarius to acknowl- 
edge him as King of Italy. After a return from Ger- 
many, where they went soon after the ceremony, both 
were crowned in Rome by the Pope, in 962 a.d. This 
coronation as Emperor is said by an eminent writer to 
have retarded the progress of Germany more than a hun- 
dred years. '' For the crown of the Roman Empire was 
always a sham and delusion, a phantom, which ever led 
rulers aside from the true path of civilization." Thence- 
forth the official title of the Empire was "The Holy 
Roman Empire of the German Nation," and Otto was 
called "Otto the Great." 

Over and over again Berengarius was thought to be 
conquered; but as soon as Otto turned his attention to 
affairs in Germany, both Berengarius and the Pope forgot 
all their pledges, and rose again in rebellion. New 
troubles continually arising in Italy, Otto was compelled 
for the rest of his life to travel back and forth from 
Germany. 



8o Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

In 965 A.D., when Berengarius had been banished and 
his own sovereignty had been established, with the rem- 
nant of his army Otto returned to receive ovations from 
his people at home. His aged mother, Mathilda, was 
still alive ; and she, with all the dukes and princes of the 
land, as well as people assembled from far and wide, was 
present at Cologne. More than ever before, all the world 
sought to do the Emperor honor. But an insurrection 
broke out in Lombardy ; and after bidding his mother a 
last farewell, he returned to Italy. In this Italian visit 
Otto made a close alliance with the new Pope, Leo VIII., 
granting him the Lombard territory, which Pepin the 
Short had also ceded to the Church many years before, 
and receiving in return a promise of support for himself 
and his son. 

His marriage with Adelaide and his conquests in Italy 
had quite turned Otto's head from all thoughts concern- 
ing the interests of his German subjects. Now it was 
splendor and greatness he sought and the aggrandizement 
of his family. For the sake of an alliance with the Greek 
Empire, hoping to unite in one great union the Byzantine 
with the Western Kingdom, and together with Germany 
to form a world-wide sovereignty, he secured for his son 
in marriage, Theophania, a Greek princess. 

On his return from his final visit to Italy, at a festival 
at Quedlinburg, there was given in his honor a greater 
celebration than Germany had ever known before. Im- 
mediately after these festivities, however, on the 6th of 
May, 973 A.D., before the altar in the church at Memle- 
ben. Otto the Great was stricken with apoplexy ; and be- 
fore he could be removed he had breathed his last. He 
was buried at Magdeburg. 

In person, Otto was tall ; he was impressive in his 
bearing, with eyes very piercing, and hair and beard curl- 



Otto the Great. 8i 

ing in shaggy fashion around his head, so that his face is 
said to have resembled a lion. There is a story about 
him and his generous behavior towards Henry of Kemp- 
ten, his son's tutor, which illustrates his character in a 
striking manner. For some trifling offence Henry of 
Kempten was sentenced " by Otto's red beard" to death. 
All the court knew that when Otto swore by his beard 
nothing would make him retract ; but this brave young 
scholar resolved to protect his life to the uttermost, and 
so, overmastering Otto the Great, with his knee on the 
latter's chest and his hand on his throat, he made him 
commute the dire sentence to banishment for life. After- 
wards, in the complications of war, Henry of Kempten 
saved the Emperor's life, and was restored to favor in a 
most magnanimous manner. 



82 Germa?iy: Her People and TJieir Story. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

OTTO II. OTTO III. HENRY II. 

936 — 1024 A.D. 

IF there was some pomp observed at the coronation of 
Otto the Great, there was tenfold more introduced 
by Otto II. His wife Theophania had hitherto despised 
the customs of the Germans, considering all their ways 
those of barbarians. A writer on the usages of that day 
gives this description of her : " She was accustomed to 
the elaborate ceremonies of the court of Constantinople; 
and although she despised the manners of the Germans 
at first, she brought in a love of letters, and helped to 
polish and refine the rough and boorish customs of the 
court. The Germans had never seen any one so lovely 
as this beautiful princess. When she arrived, the trap- 
pings of her horses were enriched with feathers and gold, 
her Greek dress was encircled with jewels and embroid- 
ered with pearls, and her hair was confined in a gold net ; 
yet all this splendor was outshone by the beauty of her 
features and the brilliancy of her eyes." 

Otto II. was called Otto the Red. He had a stormy 
reign of ten years, dying at the early age of twenty-eight. 

In the beginning of Otto's reign there were new wars 
in Germany and the old-time revolts in Italy ; for the 
Italians, supposing him engaged in his German strife, 
gained the assistance of the Arabs with their fleet horses, 
rose in rebellion, and soon routed the army which Otto 
hastened to send against them. Wandering as a fugitive 



Otto III. 83 

in disguise, on the southern shores of the Mediterranean, 
Otto found a peasant, who took pity on him, and lent 
him his horse ; mounted upon this Otto pushed his way 
into the sea towards a ship lying at anchor, whence boat- 
men were sent out to take him on board. He soon discov- 
ered that it was a Greek ship, and heard them say in a 
whisper, " It is Otto, our enemy." They were about to 
take him prisoner, when with great presence of mind he 
eluded their design, representing himself to be an Italian 
diplomat who was going to Constantinople to see the Greek 
Emperor; but soon seeing a chance to escape, he joined 
his wife, who was on shore waiting for him. He had bribed 
the seamen to steer the vessel near the coast, so that he 
could jump overboard and swim to land. His wife, though 
lovely in person, was so cruel that she derided him be- 
cause he had been afraid of the Greeks, saying, '' How 
my countrymen have frightened you ! " 

When the news reached Germany, the whole country 
rose in arms to help rescue Italy from the hands of the 
Arabs; but Otto died in 983 a.d., before this army could 
attack the enemy. He was the only Emperor of the Ger- 
mans buried in St. Peter's Church in Rome. 

Otto II. left a baby son three years of age, whose grand- 
mother, Adelaide, reigned in Germany, while his mother, 
Theophania, was appointed regent over Italy, and the 
famous Gerbert was the boy's tutor. 

At sixteen the boy was crowned at Rome as Otto III. 
For a time he enjoyed the pomp and luxury of that splen- 
did city; and he thought of making it the capital of his 
entire domain, and building a palace on the Aventine 
Hill between the Coliseum and St. John in Lateran. 
Here he intended to live, for, like his mother, he despised 
the rude ways of the Germans. Afterwards, under the 
influence of his old tutor whom he had made Pope Syl- 



84 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

vester II., he began to feel that the vanities of this M'orld 
were too fleeting ; therefore he left Rome, threw off his 
royal apparel, and hid himself in caves for the purpose of 
fasting and prayer. On account of this he is sometimes 
called Otto the Saint. With many other devotees, he 
went on a pilgrimage to Prague, to the Sepulchre of the 
Holy Adalbert, who had preached Christianity to the 
Poles. St. Adalbert was the guardian saint of Prussia 
and Poland. He was slain in 997 by the heathen Prus- 
sians, but in falling he stretched out his arms in the form 
of the cross, thus in his death imprinting on the land the 
symbol of Christianity. 

In the year 1000 a.d. the people of the Western Em- 
pire were terrified at the appearance of a comet ; they 
thought it meant the destruction of the world. On 
account of this many neglected their terrestrial pursuits, 
and spent their time in going on pilgrimages and in fast- 
ing and prayer. When Otto was returning from his 
journey to the tomb of Adalbert, hoping to learn the 
secret of restoring power to the Church in the Roman 
Empire, he opened the vault at Aix-la-Chapelle, where 
Charlemagne still sat on his marble throne. He took the 
cross of gold suspended from Charlemagne's neck, and 
wore it ever after as a talisman against the evils of the 
times. The marble throne on which the great sovereign 
had sat through the two centuries was from that time 
used in all imperial coronations. Otto III. died in Rome 
in the year 1000 a.d., at the age of twenty-two years. It 
was with great difficulty that his body was carried back 
to Aix-la-Chapelle over territory which through his indis- 
cretions had become hostile ground. 

Henry II., called the Saint on account of his devotion 
to the Church, also gained the surname of " the Lame," 
because, in a time of danger at Pavia, he leaped from 



Henry 11. 85 

a window and sprained his foot. He was the grand- 
nephew of Otto the Great and the last of the Saxon kings. 
After his death he was canonized by the Pope. 

In Henry II. 's reign the power of the clergy became 
intolerable. On account of a jest at the expense of one 
of the bishops called Meinwerk, the clergy forced Henry 
to put on the garb of penitence, and stand at the church 
door imploring forgiveness for his sins. 

Henry had thought it an excellent joke to frighten his 
bishop by writing on slips of paper : " Meinwerk, Mein- 
werk, prepare for death, for in five days thou shalt die." 
The poor man found these slips of paper wherever he 
went, and thought they were dropped in his path directly 
from the skies ; so he fasted and prayed, and daily 
expected his demise, but after five days he was as hale 
and hearty as ever. The Emperor, meeting him, asked if 
he was a spirit, or if he had died and risen again. There- 
upon Meinwerk, indignant at the joke, pronounced the 
" ban " upon him. 

There is also another interesting anecdote related of 
Henry. In his earlier years he had a dream in which it 
seemed as if a word were whispered in his ear, and, at the 
same time a giant had come forth and written upon the 
wall these words, " At the end of six " — , and there had 
stopped. Puzzled, Henry II. started up in his sleep, with 
the words " at the end of six " still sounding in his ear ; 
something appeared to say, "That foretells death; you 
have only six days to live." Then Henry the Saint bowed 
his proud spirit, and threw himself down in humility be- 
fore Him who alone can judge; and when the morning 
of the day had dawned, and the sun commenced to color 
the horizon, he was willing and ready to die. The sixth 
day passed, the night shut in, and still he was alive. Six 
weeks, six months, in their course flew by, and yet the 



86 Germany: Her People and TJieir Story. 

Lord spared his life ; but when the sixth year had gone 
he was presented with the Emperor's crown. 

Henry was the first to assume the title, " King of the 
Romans," before he was crowned as Emperor; and ever 
after this appellation was conceded to the presumptive 
heir to the throne. In Henry's reign also the highest 
nobles were first called princes ; and in his time the Nor- 
mans first gained a foothold in Southern Italy. Forty 
Norman knights, on their way home from Jerusalem, 
delivered Salerno from a siege by the Saracens, after 
which, out of gratitude, they were invited by the inhabi- 
tants to settle in the South. 

In I020 A.D., when at last the kingdom was at peace, 
the Cathedral at Bamberg, which Henry had built, was 
consecrated. Pope John XIX. came across the Alps to 
be present at this ceremony, together with the assembled 
princes and people. On account of this being one of the 
great interests of Henry's life he is often represented in 
pictures with the model of the Cathedral in his arms. 

Henry spent a few years more in travelling back and 
forth from Germany to Italy, where, after emancipating 
the Italian people from the power of the Byzantine 
Greeks, he hoped to establish the arts of peace. But in 
1024, on the way home from a visit to Robert the Pious, 
King of France, he died near Gottingen, and was buried 
in his favorite Cathedral of Bamberg. Although he was 
called " Henry the Saint," he is said neither to have lived 
like a good saint nor to have conducted himself like an 
able emperor. There is a large diversity of opinion about 
his character; the greater number of records declare that 
he was weak and the tool of the clergy, while others 
say that he did his duty well, and made every effort to 
restore peace and prosperity to the Empire, after the mis- 
rule of the two preceding reigns. But the state of the 



Henry II. 87 

country when Conrad ascended the throne does not prove 
that he had made its condition flourishing ; for the decline 
of the great Empire of Charlemagne had commenced, 
and but for the genuineness which exists eternally in 
Christianity, Europe would have gone back to barbarous 
times. 



88 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FRANCONIAN DYNASTY. 

Conrad II. Henry III. 

1024—1056 A.D. 

AT the close of the Saxon dynasty the German nation 
Jr\. seemed about to be rent asunder. The great dukes 
desired independence of the king; yet the general wish 
of the Germans was to preserve from extinction the Em- 
pire, in order to maintain the glory of the nation, and pro- 
tect themselves by unity against attack from foreign foes. 

In order to give a practical test of the sentiment of the 
people, there was a national assembly called, September 
4, 1024, at Kamba on the Rhine, that noble river, the 
exclusive control of which has ever since been the object 
of the fiercest strife. The Rhine at this time was en- 
tirely German, from its source in the Gotthard to its 
mouth in the North Sea. 

It was a scene of activity unusual in that part of Ger- 
many; for in the beautiful country between Mainz and 
Worms all parties interested in the election of an Em- 
peror were in camp. No building was large enough to 
contain so great a multitude, sixty thousand in all. The 
bishops, archbishops, and dukes of the bishoprics and 
dukedoms which Henry had incorporated into the Empire 
were encamped on the right bank of the Rhine, while the 
white tents of the people of Lorraine and the Rhine 
Franks dotted the landscape on the opposite shore. 



The Franconian Dynasty. 89 

There were two Conrads, both Franconians, who Vv^ere 
candidates for the throne, relatives, and up to this time 
friends. 

The election was conducted by the great nobility; and 
the contest was long and doubtful ; but finally the elder 
Conrad took his cousin aside, and both agreed that each 
should acquiesce in the final choice. 

The freedmen had no part in the election ; for, accord- 
ing to the feudal customs of that time, only nobles could 
vote. The Archbishop of Mainz led the balloting, in 
favor of the elder Conrad; the princes followed suit; 
whereupon the whole populace, although they threw no 
votes, confirmed the choice by general acclamation and 
applause, shouting vociferously as the candidate stepped 
before the crowd. 

Coming from the impetuous race of Franks, Conrad II. 
was fiery but resolute, and altogether different from the 
cool Saxons. On the vine-clad banks of the Rhine the 
dynasty had arisen; and, as their nominee presented 
himself before the Diet, his imposing presence and gra- 
cious manners, a type of the nationality to which he 
belonged, augured well, the people thought, for a reign 
of peace and prosperity. 

At present it was a chaos over which Conrad II. was 
called to rule, — a chaos of robber knights, of ruthless bri- 
gands living in inaccessible fortresses, the strong looking 
from their rocky perches ready to seize the weak for the 
purpose of plunder. 

Within three years from this time comparative order 
was re-established in the Empire where the death of 
Henry II. had been a signal for an uprising of every for- 
eign foe. Conrad II. proved to be one of the wisest and 
most energetic of all the German rulers. At the com- 
mencement of his reign the Lombards rose in Italy; in 



90 Gcnuaiiy : Her People and Their Story. 

Burgundy King Rudolf declared that he would resist 
Conrad's claim; and old Boleslaw of Poland, who called 
himself king, announced that all former treaties which 
the Poles had made with the Germans were ''null and 
void. " 

Yet fortune favored Conrad II. ; for the Polish king 
died, and his broad kingdom, reaching from the Baltic to 
the Danube, and from the Elbe to Central Russia, was 
shattered by the quarrels of his sons. In Burgundy 
Rudolf was without heirs, and was soon compelled by 
Conrad to appoint the German sovereign as his successor. 
By restoring Schleswig, Canute, King of Denmark as well 
as of England, was enabled to make a treaty of peace. 

In 1026 A.D. Conrad had found the gates of Pavia 
closed against him ; but, supported by the Lombard 
bishops and nobles, he was crowned with the " Iron 
crown of Lombardy," and supported by the Church. In 
March, 1027, he was crowned in Rome by Pope John 
XIX., who had been one of the Counts of Tusculum, 
and had assumed the sacred office when a boy of twelve 
years. Canute and Rudolf of Burgundy were both 
present at the coronation ; in their presence Conrad 
betrothed his son to the daughter of the former, the 
Princess Gunhilde. 

In Southern Italy, Conrad accepted as vassals the 
Normans who had gained a foothold in the time of Henry 
II., after the battles with the Saracens and Greeks. 
When he left Italy everything was quiet ; but on his re- 
turn to Germany, the Normans, as well as the Lombards, 
proved a turbulent factor in the government of the land. 

On arriving in Germany he found his stepson, Ernest 
of Swabia, in open revolt ; the latter was the nearest heir 
to the dukedom of Burgundy, the annexation of which 
was considered the great success of Conrad's life. Ernest 



TJie Franconian Dynasty. 91 

of Swabia, however, felt that he was being defrauded of 
his legitimate right. Conrad shut up his stepson in the 
strong fortress of Gibichenstein, near Halle ; but Gisela, 
Conrad's worthy queen, and the mother of Duke Ernest, 
by her prayers secured his liberty, on condition that he 
should give up to justice his friend. Count Werner 
Kyburg, also a conspirator. Considering this a breach 
of honor, he refused, preferring rather to retire with 
Kyburg to the depths of the Black Forest, where together 
as outlaws they spent their time in plunder, defying the 
government to do them harm ; afterwards, in a struggle 
with the imperial militia, both were slain. The sym- 
pathies of the people were so enlisted by what seemed 
the hard fate of this young nobleman, that in the Middle 
Ages the story was sung by many a minstrel, and, blended 
with a similar narrative, connected with Ludolf, son of 
Otto the Great, it was handed down as the " Song of 
Ernest of Swabia ; " in this the two young men were repre- 
sented as together meeting with wonderful adventures on 
their way to the Holy Land in the time of the Crusades. 

In 1039 Conrad II. suddenly died at Utrecht, at the 
age of sixty years, and was buried in the Cathedral of 
Speyer, which he had commenced to build. Altogether 
he was a successful sovereign from almpst every point of 
view, some even comparing his government to that of 
Charlemagne. He had been too busy, however, in en- 
deavoring to increase the royal power to be very popular 
with the masses. In order to make the clergy dependent 
upon him, he replaced the reigning dukes by members of 
his own family, making the smaller dukedoms hereditary. 
On the other hand, to sustain himself against the dis- 
affected nobles, he was careful to gain the support of the 
clergy. In his reign knowledge, the arts, and all kinds 
of internal improvements, began to take root. He brought 



92 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

the finest vines from France, and planted them on the 
banks of the Rhine; these vineyards are the same that 
to-day yield the celebrated wine of Johannisberg and 
Riidesheim. 

At this time, also, the monks of Cluny began to agitate 
reform in the Church, and to talk of the '•'■Treuga DciP 

Henry HI. was surnamed "the Black," "the Bearded," 
"the Old," and "the Pious." He had been crowned in 
his youth, and, at the age of- twenty, ascended the throne. 
In his reign imperial power reached its height. The 
temporal princes were held by him in complete subjec- 
tion, and he transformed the German Empire into a mon- 
archy in which the power of the sovereign was absolute. 

Henry III. was for a time Duke of Swabia, Franconia, 
and Bavaria, as well as King of Germany. On his acces- 
sion Germany was at peace, and never in its history did 
a monarch seem to commence his reign more auspiciously. 
His position was acknowledged to be that of the most 
powerful sovereign then existing. 

The "royal ride" which Henry III. and all sovereigns 
took immediately after their coronation was extremely 
deleterious in its influence upon Germany. It tended to 
prevent the German Emperors from acquiring fixed power. 
The necessity for it had come about because for a num- 
ber of years the nation had no capital, and the sovereign 
was therefore obliged to personally receive the allegiance 
of the people by a journey through the country. 

Henry travelled with a magnificent retinue. It was 
like a triumphal procession in its pomp and splendor, the 
princes from Italy and vassals from Burgundy bringing 
rich presents, and prostrating themselves before him. 
But it soon began to appear that the enthusiasm first 
shown with reference to him was somewhat superficial. 
Corruption in the government was exposed, and a general 



TJie Franco7iian Dynasty. 93 

demoralization in the Church and amongst the clergy; 
for the baleful influence of long years of war cast dark 
shadows over the reign of peace, and the general depravity 
became infectious in every department. 

But a reaction came. The monks in the monastery 
of Cluny determined to introduce a more Christian spirit 
into the life of the age, and there was developed what 
is called the Treuga Dei (the "Truce of God"), vaguely 
suggested in the reign of Conrad II., but now, for the 
first time, put into practice. According to the Treicga 
Dei, all feuds and battles were forbidden throughout the 
land from every Wednesday evening until Monday morn- 
ing. Several hundred monasteries in France and Bur- 
gundy joined in the acceptance of this verdict, and the 
worldl)'^ rulers were called upon to enforce it. In the 
same year of the Treiiga Dei, Henry III. prevailed on 
the Diet of Constance to issue an edict that there should 
be no right of private vengeance, but that all quarrels 
should be settled by law. 

The abuses of the Church were taken up next. At this 
time priests, abbots, and bishops, and often the Popes, 
were accustomed to buy their appointments, this being 
called "simony. " Henry III., seeing the necessity of a 
reform, sought out the most pious and intelligent priests, 
and having made them abbots and bishops, required them 
to serve without payment and presents, those already in 
such places being instructed to refuse all emoluments. 

Peace was now enjoyed all over Germany, and in 
1046 Henry crossed the Alps to be crowned as German 
Emperor, with Agnes of Aquitaine, whom he had married 
after Gunhilde's death, as Empress; this happened on 
Christmas Day, just two hundred and forty-six years after 
the magnificent ceremonials at the time of Charlemagne's 
coronation. The people hailed the king as " Imperator," 



94 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

declaring that no Pope ever after should occupy the chair 
of St. Peter without the Emperor's consent ; but the oppos- 
ing party said Henry had made a bargain with the Pope. 

Henry appointed four Popes in succession, all but one 
of whom were no doubt poisoned. Hildebrand, after- 
wards famous as Gregory VII., and for many years the 
real ruler of the Christian world, Avas offered the Papal 
chair; but at that time he declined the honor. The atti- 
tude of Henry III. and the tendencies of the day were 
spoiling the clergy, and in the reign of his son and grand- 
son the position of the Popes grew insufferable. 

Meanwhile the Emperor had reached the height of his 
power; he had promoted education, encouraged art, and 
advanced the interests of the nation. In history he is 
reckoned as a great king ; but he had grown reckless in 
his prosperity, bestowing principalities on personal friends 
regardless of hereditary claims or the wishes of the 
people. One of his bishops, a faithful friend and sup- 
porter, had seen the Emperor in a dream standing before 
his throne with his hand upon his sword, crying out that 
he would yet strike down all his foes; and in fact this 
had become the real situation. 

In October, 1056, Henry III., after discovering a plot 
against himself, retired to his palace at Goslar broken 
down in health; and immediately after hearing of the 
defeat of his army by the Slavonians in Prussia, he died, 
leaving as his successor a boy of six years. 

Henry III. was a religious fanatic; and in regarding 
the office of Emperor as a sacred trust, he could see no 
escape from the corruption of the age except in rigid 
severity of life. He thought it was his calling as Emperor 
to be a pattern for his people. It is said he never put 
on his crown without first receiving stripes and scourging 
to remind him of the vanity of all greatness. 



The Fraiiconian Line Continued. 95 



CHAPTER X. 

THE FRANCONIAN LINE CONTINUED. 

Henry IV. Pope Gregory VII. 

1056 — 1077 A.D. 

THE child king, Henry IV., was brought up carefully, 
his enemies said effeminately, by his mother, Agnes 
of Aquitaine. To appease the nobles, she, in her weak- 
ness of character, gave to them many of the dukedoms 
which her husband and Conrad II. had confiscated and 
made family estates. But this had no effect in pacifying 
them; they continued their opposition to all her plans, 
harassing her by every means in their power. 

Ever since the time of Charlemagne, there had been 
an element growing up in the government which was now 
bearing its baleful fruit. In order that he might have a 
force which would stand by the throne against the violence 
of the ambitious nobles, Charlemagne had caused some of 
the archbishops and bishops to be made secular princes, 
giving them dominions over which they might reign as 
sovereigns ; but this now proved, in the case of the young 
king, to be very disastrous in its results. The arch- 
bishops of Cologne and Mainz were potentates who exer- 
cised the power of life and death ; but this, besides giving 
them too much authority over other lives, had an un- 
wholesome effect upon their own, by turning their minds 
more to their power and advancement as princes than to 
their duty as bishops of the Church ; therefore they were 



96 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

obliged to keep bishops under tliem as a kind of curate 
to perform all the business of the Church, while they 
devoted themselves to their secular ambitions. Also, in 
handing these bishoprics over to their sons, they did not 
take into consideration whether the latter were fit for the 
sacred office or not. 

Archbishop Hanno of Cologne, who was endowed with 
the rights spoken of above, cruelly formed a plan to tear 
away young Henry IV., now twelve years of age, from 
the care of his mother. In 1062, after a dinner given 
at Kaiserwerth, an island on the Rhine, to Archbishop 
Hanno, the latter asked the young king, who was living 
there with his mother, to inspect his magnificent boat, 
now anchored near the palace. Immediately after Henry 
had stepped on board with the archbishop, the boatmen 
seized the oars and put out to sea, while the crowds on 
the shore cried out, "The king is kidnapped.'' Mean- 
while Henry struggled to free himself from his captors 
by jumping into the river; but he was soon retaken by 
Count Egbert of Brunswick, and, by a convocation of the 
bishops, he was placed under the guardianship of the 
cruel Hanno, whose stern harshness soon made Henry 
his enemy for life. The news of his seizure created such 
an excitement in Germany that Archbishop Hanno had 
to bribe the great vassals by making the young king give 
them estates belonging to the crown. 

Meanwhile his unfortunate mother, shrieking, had gazed 
helplessly, from the balcony of the palace, after the ship 
containing her dear boy until it disappeared from view. 
She retired soon after to a convent in Italy, where she 
spent her life in doing charitable deeds. 

Henry grew so restive under Hanno's severity that the 
archbishop was obliged to pass him over into the hands 
of Adalbert, Archbishop of Bremen, who carried disci- 



The Franconian Line Conti}iiced. 97 

pline to the other extreme, dazzling the child with worldly- 
pleasures until he became dishonest, dissolute, reckless, 
and ungovernable. At last Adalbert grew so tired of his 
charge that, when the king was fifteen years of age, the 
bishop was glad to rid himself of responsibility by having 
the " sword of majority " given to Henry, at the same time 
proclaiming him king. This was a sorry day for Henry 
and for the German people ; for his life ever after was 
one of fighting, not only against the adversaries of his 
soul, but the enemies of his body, represented by the sec- 
ular princes and spiritual advisers, officers of the Church, 
and nobles of the kingdom at home and in other parts of 
his domain. 

In childhood Henry had been betrothed by his father 
to Bertha of Susa, an Italian princess ; and he was now, 
at the age of sixteen, forced by his advisers, who hoped 
to change his dissolute character, to a marriage with this 
princess. Although she was very charming and amiable, 
he immediately took action for a divorce. The Arch- 
bishop of Mayence and some others were willing to grant 
it; but Hildebrand refused his consent on account of 
conscientious scruples. But in the years following, when 
all the world was false to her husband, she remained faith- 
ful, until her patience and forgiving character, together 
with her genuine attachment for him, gained his love, 
and the romance of their lives began. 

The unfortunate events of Henry's childhood, and the 
demoralizing character of his education, together with the 
associates he had formed in early manhood, had made him 
uncontrollable ; and on account of Adalbert's influence in 
poisoning his mind, he became distrustful of the Saxons, 
who could never brook the idea of a Frankish king. 
When he forced them to march against Poland, they arose 
with an army of sixty thousand men headed by Otto of 



98 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

Bavaria, who when a boy had received his dukedom from 
Henry's mother. They marched to his palace at Goslar, 
where they made their own terms, while Henry, attended 
only by a few followers, escaped with difficulty from the 
besieged castle, and was for three days without food. 
The bishops turned against him ; and he would have been 
helpless except for a few cities on the Rhine, which, tired 
of the arrogance of the clergy, always supported the sov- 
ereigns, and thus turned the tide in many a strife between 
Church and State. 

Notwithstanding the help of these cities, in 1074 Henry 
was obliged to make a treaty with the Saxons, conceding 
everything they demanded, including the destruction of 
fortresses which he had built in their territory. Here he 
and his young associates had spent much of their time 
recklessly, trying to spy out the movements of the Saxons, 
thus rendering these strongholds most obnoxious. 

In spite of many concessions the Saxons were so en- 
raged that they tore down the costly Imperial Palace at 
Goslar, and destroyed the church which contained the 
tomb of Henry III. This was too great an outrage, and 
a reaction set in amongst the people. With an immense 
army, in a terrible battle at Langensalza, Henry defeated 
the Saxons, and laid waste their land. He acquitted him- 
self with so much credit, exhibiting marvellous courage 
and daring in leading his men to the attack, that history 
gives him a conspicuous place as a warrior amongst the 
great chieftains of his day. The battle had been so 
hotly contested that the fleeing enemy left eight thousand 
dead bodies on the field; the poor peasants were mas- 
sacred, and the whole province laid waste. Thus at the 
same time the king satisfied his thirst for military glory 
and for revenge. 

In triumph he entered Goslar, whence the preceding 



The Fra)iconian Line Continued. 99 

year he had so ignominiously fled. That he might make 
the humiliation of the chief leaders of the conquered 
Saxons more degrading, he was seated on a high throne 
as the long procession of the conquered enemy filed along. 
" Bareheaded, barefooted, without weapons, their heads 
bowed with shame, on they came before the king they 
had dethroned and attempted to murder." Among these 
prisoners, with others, was Otto of Nordheim, who had 
helped to kidnap the king when a boy. 

Henry, feeling his throne re-established, built again 
the Saxon fortresses, and by his arrogance fostered new 
seeds of revolt. But notwithstanding this, he might have 
ruled comfortably for some time but for the monk Hilde- 
brand, who, after governing the clerical forces so long, 
had accepted the Papal chair under the name of Gregory 
VII. 

The character of this man stands out in history like 
that of a great general, an astute politician, and a diplo- 
matic statesman of the very highest order. His will and 
ambition were Napoleonic, his energy was exhaustless, 
and his wisdom, foresight, and daring were unequalled by 
the greatest conquerors of the world. The son of a poor 
carpenter of Tuscany, he had been educated as a young 
monk at Cluny when the reforms connected with the 
Treuga Dei were first agitated, and he had imbibed the 
fever for the '' Supremacy of Papal power." In order to 
understand the incentives of this great man's action and 
the principles which shaped his remarkable career, we 
must go back a quarter of a century. 

In the reign of the two preceding Henrys, and during 
the minority of the present king, Hildebrand had been 
making his plans. In 1056, when Henry IV. was only 
nine years of age, and Agnes of Aquitaine, his mother, 
was busy trying to quell the assaults of her nobles, Hilda- 



lOO Germany : Her People and TJieir Story. 

brand called an ecclesiastical council which annulled the 
edict of the Romans made in the reign of Henry IIL, 
solemnly declaring that henceforth there should be no 
Papal election without the Emperor's seal. He substi- 
tuted instead an electoral college of seventy cardinals, 
who alone should confirm the choice of those who were 
to sit in St. Peter's chair. This word cardinal was from 
cardo, a hinge, and was derived on account of its rele- 
vancy with regard to their important functions. Later a 
shade of red was called "cardinal," because the cardi- 
nals' hats were of that color. 

The method of electing Popes mentioned above has 
continued the same up to this day ; for whenever a Pope 
dies, the palace is filled with cardinals belonging to the 
electoral college, and is sealed up from all knowledge of 
the doings of the outside world, until, like a jury, they 
bring in the final result of their vote. This voting of the 
cardinals represents the will of the Holy See. 

During the first five hundred years after Christ, the 
Pope had been merely a bishop of Rome. During the next 
five hundred, although the nominal head of the Church, 
he had been subordinate to the political rulers ; but Hil- 
debrand, in remodelling the Papal office, claimed that the 
Pope was the direct representative of God on earth, who 
could bestow or withhold the imperial crown according to 
his own will. In this he asserted the " Infallibility of the 
Pope," and at the same time the " Right of Investiture." 
This course incited a war between Church and State that 
lasted not only through the reign of the last two Henrys 
of the Franconian line, but for a century after. The doc- 
trine of the " Right of Investiture " declared that bishops 
could not henceforth be invested with their office by re- 
ceiving the badges, that is the ring and staff, or crozier, 
from secular sovereigns. This election must be accom- 



The Franconiau Line Continued. lOi 

pHshed by a college similar to that called together for 
filling the Papal chair, and subject to confirmation by the 
Pope alone. 

On the occasion when the manner of the Pope's elec- 
tion had been decided by the council, Hildebrand, then 
only a cardinal, placed on the head of Pope Nicholas II. 
"the crown of the kingdom from God's hand; the Im- 
perial German crown from Peter's," thus confirming the 
Pope as the direct representative of God on earth. 

Hildebrand was also determined upon the question of 
the celibacy of the priesthood. He argued that no human 
tie should separate the priest from God. This struggle 
for the obliteration of a married priesthood had been 
begun in the time of Charlemagne. Years after, when 
Hildebrand became Gregory VII., he enforced this sys- 
tem, making removal from the priestly office the penalty 
of non-compliance, and requiring those who already had 
families to abandon them. He promulgated laws against 
the sale of offices and the receiving of emoluments. In 
short, he instituted statutes whose execution has ever since 
been moulding the Roman Catholic Church. 

In 1073, seventeen years after Henry IV. had been 
crowned, Hildebrand was elected Pope under the name 
of Gregory VII. Until this time the title of Pope was 
given to all bishops alike. Gregory, however, three years 
afterwards, decreed that henceforth it should be applied 
only to the Roman "papa" or pontiff, prefixing at the 
same time the epithet sandus, whence the modern title, 
"His Holiness, the Pope." 

The election of Gregory VII. occurred the year before 
Henry's victory over the Saxons at Langensalza. Imme- 
diately after their humiliation, the latter, feeling that there 
were now two sovereigns, appealed to Gregory for aid. 
Thereupon he sent word to Henry to enforce the laws of 



I02 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

the Church concerning the celibacy of the clergy, etc.; 
but Henry, who had always been at war with the ecclesi- 
astical party, filled with indignation, and puffed up with 
the glory of his Saxon victory, called a synod at Worms, 
where he deposed Gregory VII. in these words: "Henry 
to the false monk, ' Thou hast ascended to thy seat by 
cunning and fraud. Thou art loaded with just maledic- 
tions. Come down from thy usurped apostolic chair. 
I, Henry, by the grace of God, King of Germany, and 
all our bishops command thee. Come down ! Come 
down ! ' " 

Gregory VII. was presiding over a synod in the Lateran 
Church at the moment the messenger with the communi- 
cation arrived. The envoy addressing the Holy Father 
said, "Sir, Henry, Emperor of Germany, and the German 
and Italian bishops, command thee to descend from the 
throne thou hast usurped by robbery; for without the 
Emperor's consent no one has a right thereto." Then, 
turning to the clergy assembled, he went on, "As for you, 
brethren, you are required to send ambassadors to the 
Emperor that you may receive a new Pope from his hand. 
Gregory here is no Pope, but a ravenous wolf." At this 
the Roman knights drew their swords, and would have cut 
Roland the ambassador to pieces, had not Gregory VII. 
protected him at the risk of his own life; but he after- 
wards had him dragged through the streets, and finally 
cast him into a dungeon. 

The enforcement of the rules Gregory had made was 
especially hard upon the sovereigns, particularly the one 
with reference to the right of investiture, because the 
rulers had gained much of their strength against the 
feudal nobles by having the right of conferring the offices 
in the episcopacy in their hands. Having no particular 
regard for the interests of the Church, Henry had con- 



TJie Franconian Line Contimied. 103 

trolled these offices according to his needs and conve- 
nience. He had often disposed of bishoprics to relieve 
his pecuniary embarrassment; and in deposing Gregory 
he expected, as his father had done, to replace him by a 
succession of Popes of his own appointment. 



I04 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XI. 

HENRY IV. CONTINUED. DECLINE OF GREGORY VII. 's 

POWER. HIS DEATH IN EXILE. HENRY V. 

1077—1125 A.D. 

GREGORY VII. was at this epoch the Roman Em- 
pire's real ruler, and for the first time in German 
history the ban of excommunication upon a sovereign was 
passed. The ban, by severing all a ruler's ties to the 
Church on earth and blotting out all his hopes of heaven, 
released the nobles from their feudal allegiance to him as 
their Lord and king, so that henceforth they could choose 
a new sovereign at their will. 

This ban of excommunication against Henry IV. shows 
the greatness and daring of Hildebrand more than any 
other act of his life ; for at this very time he was engaged 
in serious troubles with the Normans under Robert Guis- 
card; the Lombards, who were always jealous of the 
church, were up in arms; the King of France was hos- 
tile; and there was a large party in Rome who refused 
to submit to his will. 

The issuing of the ban seemed to Henry simply an 
edict on paper, and it might have been this but for the 
accelerated course of every stream tending downward. 
All at once the discontented nobles, the Saxons whom he 
had persecuted since their rebellion and defeat, and the 
German states, as well, — all these unitedly arose, and 
failed to appear, even by representation, at the National 
Diet. 



Henry IV. Continued. 105 

Meanwhile Gregory VII. kept busy preparing for the 
practical dethronement of the obstreperous king who had 
defied his power. Much alarmed at the demonstrations, 
Henry sent word to the convention which met at Mayence 
in October, 1076, offering every concession for the sake of 
restoring imperial power ; but on hearing that the Pope 
had been invited to an adjourned meeting to be held at 
Augsburg the following January, a panic seized him, and 
he started on a hazardous journey over the Alps. 

It was in the middle of a winter of uncommon severity, 
when the rivers were all frozen, and the brink of the preci- 
pices were a glare of ice. With his devoted Bertha and 
the child Conrad in arms, and only one loyal knight, he 
started out over the St. Bernhard ; they were obliged 
oftentimes to creep on hands and knees along the slippery 
paths at the brink of overhanging precipices, sliding on 
bearskins over the ice-covered declivities, Bertha all the 
time wrapped in other bearskins, and drawn on a sledge. 
It was a most remarkable experience, but at last they all 
arrived in Lombardy alive. 

There was always a large antipapal party here, and now 
they were ready to espouse Henry's cause ; but with his 
usual vacillation of character he refused the proffered aid, 
preferring to throw himself on the mercy of Gregory, who, 
having been alarmed at the uprising in Lombardy, had 
taken refuge in the castle of Canossa, the property of 
Mathilda of Tuscany, his most faithful friend. 

Alone and unarmed Henry climbed the mountain, pre- 
senting himself in the garb of a penitent at the great 
palace gate. Without food or shelter from the driving 
storm, clad in haircloth, and begging for mercy, he stood 
there repentant ; but Gregory for three days and nights 
kept him waiting in an outer courtyard of the castle. On 
the fourth day Gregory received the penitent, and re- 



io6 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

moved the ban. The conditions he required were entire 
obedience to the will of the Pope, and the subservience 
of the crown to the bishops of Rome. He then broke 
bread with the Emperor, invoking the immediate wrath of 
Heaven if he had been guilty of the crimes of which 
Henry had accused him, saying, " Do as I do, my son, if 
you are guiltless wherein the princes accuse you." But 
Henry did not dare to make this appeal to God. This 
was the first great victory of Papal power, but the memory 
of it has supported the fainting hopes in many a Papal 
battle for eight hundred years. 

Gregory VH. had catried his severity too far; and, like 
all extreme measures of arrogant men, this was followed 
by a reaction. The conspirators against Henry became 
enemies of the Pope; and Henry now commenced a war 
which he sustained with great energy, first with one enemy 
and then another, for thirty years. In the meantime his 
brother-in-law, Rudolf of Swabia, had been proclaimed 
king in his stead. The princes, supported by the Lom- 
bards, helped Henry in a terrible civil war waged for two 
years against the Papal party in Germany, the conse- 
quences of which were apparent for two centuries. 
Henry's authority was not re-established until 1 080, when 
the Papal struggle in Germany closed, resulting in the 
death of Rudolf of Swabia, who was slain by Godfrey of 
Bouillon, afterwards the hero of the First Crusade. 

In the Cathedral at Meresburg there is shown to the 
sightseer a withered hand. This is supposed to be that 
of Rudolf of Swabia, who, after having sworn allegiance, 
proved false to his sovereign. This hand was cut off 
before he was slain; and while he lay dying it was shown 
to Rudolf, who remorsefully said, " That is the hand with 
which I swore eternal fealty to my king." 

Henry now took the offensive, and having crossed the 



Decline of Gregory VII.' s Power. 107 

Alps with a large army, was crowned King of Lombardy, 
and marched to the gates of Rome. Gregory VII. 's 
friends all forsook him, except Comitess Mathilda of Tus- 
cany, and his forces finally had to yield. In the long 
war that followed, Rome suffered more than from the 
Goths or Vandals before the Dark Ages began. 

From his prison in St. Angelo, Gregory removed the 
ban from Robert Guiscard the Norman, who then came 
to his aid with an army of thirty-six thousand men. As 
the Normans approached the Eternal City, Henry retired; 
but the allies, consisting mostly of Saracens, burnt up all 
that part of the town on the " Aventine " between the 
Lateran Palace and the Palatine Hill, the most of which 
has not been built up to this day; they slaughtered thou- 
sands of inhabitants, carried away innumerable slaves, 
and left blood and ruin behind. 

Gregory VII. retired to Salerno, and died in exile in 
1085. He left the ban still upon Henry IV. ; but dying 
he said in the tone of a martyr, " I have loved justice 
and hated iniquity, and therefore I die in exile." 

It will be remembered that when Henry went over the 
Alps on his journey of penitence he was accompanied by 
one faithful knight, Frederick of Buren, who afterwards 
married Henry's daughter, and was made Duke of Swabia 
by the former. It was he who afterwards founded the 
House of Hohenstaufen. Through all Henry's disasters 
this Duke of Swabia remained loyal; and dying he left 
two sons, Frederick and Conrad. 

Henry's eldest son, the little Conrad before mentioned, 
died in 11 01, but not until he had already rebelled 
against his father. Henry now turned to his remaining 
treacherous, calculating son, afterwards Henry V. , who, 
with the German nobles, revolted, and war for another 
year desolated the land. But the cities on the Rhine, as 



io8 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

usual, held out for Henry IV., so that he kept the field 
until 1 105, when his son Henry made a fictitious truce 
with him by means of which he gained his father's confi- 
dence. On a false pretext he induced the Emperor to 
meet him at the Castle of Bockelheim, when he shut the 
gate upon him, threw up the drawbridge, and held him 
prisoner, thus compelling him to abdicate the throne. 

A story is told of the lord of the Castle of Hammer- 
stein, where Henry sought shelter when escaping from 
the treachery of his son. He presented himself at the 
gate of the noble stronghold which travellers see to-day 
as they pass along the Rhine, and, knocking, begged ad- 
mission and shelter for the night. The lord of the castle 
had two beautiful daughters whom he considered useless, 
whereas sons he thought might have borne arms for the 
king, his beloved sovereign, to whom, through all vicissi- 
tudes, he had been true. The old knight, responding to 
the knock, saw the gray-haired and bowed-down king. 
When Henry entered and beheld the two lovely maidens 
he said, " Well for thee that thou hast gentle daughters 
to cling to thee and cherish thee in thy old age ; I have 
had two sons, both of whom have risen against me." 

After Henry had escaped from Bockelheim, he was 
recaptured and brought to Speyer, where he appealed to 
the bishop for work about the Cathedral with which to 
earn his bread; but considering his request profane, 
since he was under the ban, the bishop, with his accus- 
tomed cruelty, refused to grant the request, and Henry 
was obliged to sell his boots to obtain food. Henry V. 
had placed his father in the care of this pitiless bishop, 
because he considered him the person most likely to 
carry out his inhuman purposes. 

In 1 1 06, the people having become aroused at the 
brutal treatment of Henry IV., the cities came to the res- 



Death of Henry IV. in Exile. 109 

cue, and there was a general uprising in his favor; but at 
this critical juncture, this most unfortunate of German 
princes breathed his last, dying at Liege in August, 1106. 
Even in death the Pope's ban followed him ; for his coffin 
was left unburied on unhallowed ground for more than 
five years, a faithful monk keeping watch over it night 
and day during the entire time. 

Death was a welcome visitor, who indemnified Henry 
IV. for all the unfortunate circumstances of his life, — the 
errors of his education, the follies of his youth, and the 
irresolution of his manhood. No weaker, perhaps, than 
many a monarch has since been, he lived at an epoch 
when nothing less than a moral giant could have been 
victorious in so great a battle for Papal power. The 
people mourned bitterly for their sovereign, now beloved, 
who had atoned for the delinquencies of his youth by 
severe suffering. It is said that the penitential scene in 
connection with Hildebrand at the Castle of Canossa, 
which burned into the hearts of the German nation, 
changed Henry from a wild youth to a resolute man ; and 
the future acts of his life show that, from that time, all 
the latent capabilities of character were brought out, and 
a knowledge of his own rights revealed to him. In his 
later years he was courageous, magnanimous, and just, 
relieving the oppressed, and doing much to free the 
country from the general brigandage to which the knight- 
errantry had sunk. 

The reign of the unprincipled Henry V. may be summed 
up in a few words. It was one continual war between 
Pope and Emperor, lasting nineteen years ; the strife was 
never settled until a few months preceding this monarch's 
death, when an agreement was entered into between 
Church and State, which gave to the Pope the election 
of the bishops, together with all the clerical offices ; and 



no Germany: Her People and TJieir Story. 

while the Emperor could be present to ratify their elec- 
tion, the conferring the ring and crozier was granted 
exclusively to the Pope. The Emperor still had power 
to confer the sceptre, to distribute the fiefs to the nobles, 
and to exercise sovereign power with reference to the 
feudal estates. It was a large concession to the Church, 
but not all which Hildebrand had desired. 

There was great rejoicing in Worms when this treaty 
was concluded in 1122. It was called the "Concordat 
of Worms." This compromise gave the German bishops 
two sovereigns ; and by making the latter secretly de- 
pendent on the Pope, the antagonism between Church 
and State continued, and, notwithstanding the Reforma- 
tion, has never, up to this clay, been entirely healed. 



TJie Crusades. 1 1 1 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE CRUSADES. 
1096-1270 A.D. 

AS an outgrowth of this struggle between Church and 
State, an excitement had been created under Pope 
Urban II. It was first developed by the wild fanaticism 
of Peter of Amiens (called the Hermit), which aroused 
the slumbering fire of all Germany and France, enlisting 
a quarter of a million of men, women, and children, who 
demanded that he should lead them against the Saracen 
possessions of Palestine. 

He had travelled over France as a wayfarer; he had 
grown thin by his austerities ; and, bent under his load 
of cares and weariness, with the cross raised before him, 
and clad in the coarse garments of a mendicant, he had 
earned the name of "The Hermit." Men from all the 
country round rushed to the cities and hamlets, and filled 
the churches, listening while he told them what he, with 
his own eyes, had seen at Jerusalem ; how the mild sway 
of the Saracens, which had given support to the pilgrims, 
had been supplanted by the scoffings of the Infidels, 
who spit upon the Christians, and perpetrated every ima- 
ginable cruelty. He appealed to all the elements of 
character, — pity, tenderness, indignation, and bravery; 
and immense crowds of all ranks were excited to tears, 
sighs, agonized groans, reproaches, and remorse, that 
they had so long abandoned the blessed scene of the 
redemption ; while the congregated warriors responded 



1 1 2 Germany : Her People ajid Their Story. 

by their willingness to give their hearts' blood. " It is 
the will of God ! " shouted the believers in the crowd ; 
and they hastened to fasten little crosses of red cloth to 
their shoulders, signifying that they enlisted in the enter- 
prise. From this event the expeditions took the name of 
Crusades, the French word " Croisade" {ixomcroix, cross), 
meaning " War of the Cross." Traversing Germany, Hun- 
gary, Bulgaria, and Thrace, the Crusaders had reached 
Constantinople, where they were almost exterminated. 
Godfrey of Bouillon, with sixty thousand valiant knights, 
the flower of German chivalry, had started out and pene- 
trated Asia Minor, where he was joined by the handful 
of the survivors of the band of Peter of Amiens. It was 
a troop of mailed cavalry, with spurs, lance, sword, and 
armor, one hundred thousand strong. Constantinople 
was startled at the sight, for fear so brilliant an army 
might turn into a crusade for conquest and plunder. 

For hundreds of miles they marched, until encounter- 
ing the Sultan's army, with their ever-lessening band 
they conquered it, slaying thirty thousand men of Turk- 
ish cavalry. Through fields laid waste, famished and 
dying from hunger and thirst, their horses by tens of 
thousands falling under them, they proceeded on their 
way, and with only a handful of the original six hundred 
thousand took Antioch in January, 1098. After defeat- 
ing another Turkish army, they marched with a frag- 
ment, twenty thousand foot-soldiers and fifteen hundred 
cavalry, to Jerusalem. 

Taking a route along the seashore to Jaffa, they struck 
into the interior country; and all at once the glorious 
sight, the long-cherished desire, the fulfilment of their 
deferred hopes, lay before them. When the Holy City 
burst upon their view, they all prostrated themselves, 
pouring out their tears upon the consecrated ground. 



The Crusades. 113 

But the deliverance of the Holy City and the Sepulchre 
was yet to be accomplished; and under a burnished sky, 
with no water in pool or brooks, the Crusaders fought 
for five long weeks, when at last the Saracen caliph of 
Egypt, who had won it from the Turks, surrendered in 
1099. At the end of this time Godfrey of Bouillon and 
his stormers stood inside of Jerusalem. Like almost 
every foe, they were relentless, burning the Jews in their 
synagogues, and massacring seventy thousand Moslem in 
their homes; through all time this remains a stain on 
the glory they had won. 

They proclaimed Godfrey of Bouillon king. He as- 
sumed the title, " Defender of the Tomb of Christ," say- 
ing "he would wear no royal diadem, where the Saviour 
of the world had worn, on his bleeding forehead, a crown 
of thorns." He laid the foundation of the Latin king- 
dom of Jerusalem after it had been four hundred and 
fifty years in the hands of the Mohammedans. The de- 
sign of the First Crusade at least was accomplished. 

After the victory many of the actors went home, among 
them Peter the Hermit, who closed his days in a French 
monastery. The chivalrous Godfrey reigned a year lack- 
ing five days, and died at the age of forty. On account 
of his clemency, he passed away regretted alike by Mos- 
lem and Christian. 

For fifty years the Christian dominion in the East 
maintained itself against the Mohammedans; then new 
dangers arose, the fall of Odessa startling the residents 
in Palestine, who called for assistance. A second Cru- 
sade, headed by St. Bernard, was then sent out by Conrad 
in. and Louis VH. of France. Nine-tenths of this army 
were destroyed by the scimitars of the Infidels. Both 
armies, instead of advancing on Constantinople, retired to 
Nicaea, and thence pressed forward through Asia Minor 



114 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

to Jerusalem, with only a handful of the chivalric band. 
They had failed in the siege of Damascus, and the Second 
Crusade closed in gloom, only a few returning to their 
country. 

Forty years after, a third Crusade went out, under Rich- 
ard CcEur de Lion, Philip Augustus of France, and Fred- 
eric Barbarossa; for now Jerusalem had been retaken by 
the brave but gentle Saladin, and all of Palestine but 
Tyre had yielded to the Moslem. How Barbarossa met 
his death at the head of sixty thousand men will appear 
hereafter. Some forces, sent by the French and English 
by sea, united with the remnant left of Barbarossa's men, 
and after a siege of twenty-three months the town of Acre 
surrendered to the Christians. But the bright hopes of 
taking Jerusalem engendered by this victory were not 
realized. The kings of France and England grew jeal- 
ous of each other's glory, and finally made a compromise 
with the high-souled Saladin, which on his part was most 
liberal. 

The Children's Crusade in 1212 must not fail to be 
mentioned. The second Crusade had failed because, St. 
Bernard thought, the sinfulness of the pilgrims was dis- 
pleasing to God, and it was believed that only through 
innocent hands could the work be accomplished; the 
words of Jesus, ''Suffer little children," seemed to these 
enthusiasts to justify the sacrifice. Under the leader- 
ship of priests and monks, and headed by the boy 
Stephen, twenty thousand French children, and thirty 
thousand German boys and girls, under the peasant lad 
Nicolas, made their way to Marseilles and other seaport 
towns, and thence were conveyed to the Holy Land. 
Only a fragment of the whole returned, nearly all the 
poor little people either perished by the way, or were 
seized for the slave-market. It was a cruel movement, 



TJic Crusades. 1 1 5 

the result of the universal fanaticism which then over- 
spread Europe. 

The enticing of these children into the Crusades was 
considered an abduction; and dwelling on it, the minds 
of the people of that century became so exercised that 
many legends arose which had for their foundation the 
details connected with the children's Crusade. Among 
the legends was the story of Hameln, one of the strong- 
holds destroyed by the Swedes in a victory over the 
Imperialists in the Thirty Years' War, afterwards called 
the Bastile of Hanover. This is a very ancient place, 
situated twenty-five miles south of Hanover. The for- 
tress was afterwards blown up by the French in 1807. 
It is still noted for its Rattenfangcrhaus., connected with 
the legend of the "rat-catcher," celebrated in Browning's 
verse as the "Pied Piper of Hamelin. " In this legend, 
which is said to have had an historical foundation, every- 
thing went well until the wizard demanded of the city 
fathers the fifty thousand guldens promised for freeing 
the town of rats. When refused, the piper blew his en- 
chanted reed, and into the ancient streets. 



Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering, 
Little hands clapping, and little tongues chattering ; 
Out came the children running, 
All the little boys and girls, 
With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls, 
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls, 
Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after 
The wonderful music with shouting and laughter. 
When lo ! as they reached the mountain side 
A wonderful portal opened wide. 
As if a cavern were suddenly hollowed, 
And the Piper advanced and the children followed, 
And when all were in to the very last. 
The door in the mountain side shut fast. 
Alas! alas! for Hamelin. 



1 1 6 Germany : Her People and Their Story- 

The place of the children's last retreat, 
They called it the Pied Piper's Street, 
Where any one playing on pipe or on tabor 
Was sure for the future to lose his labor. 
And opposite the place of the cavern 
They wrote the story on a column, 
And on the great church window painted 
The same, to make the world acquainted 
How the children were stolen awjiy. 
And there it stands to this very day." 



The inscription as you may read it to-day is this: — 

Anno 12S4, atn dage yohannis et Patili, zuar der 2b yuni, 

dorch einen Piper mil allerlie farbe bekledet gewesett 

ijo Kinder verledet binnen Hamelin gebon 

to Calvaire bi den Koppen verloren. 

(In the year 1284, on the day of St. John and St. Paul, which 

was the 26th June, a piper, dressed in a suit of many 

colors, led one hundred and thirty children 

born in Hameln, by the Koppen- 

burg, to Calvary.) 

This legend of the enchanted reed is found in different 
forms in all ages, in all nations, and in all lands. 

The three Crusades mentioned above were the most 
prominent; for the rest, four in number, lacked the ele- 
ment of piety. The fourth was unimportant; in the 
fifth, in 1228, Frederick II. of Germany entered Jerusa- 
lem in triumph, and compelled the Sultan to cede the 
city and several other strongholds to the Christians. 
The sixth, seventh, and eighth Crusades, in 1238, 1249, 
and 1270 were uneventful. Soon after the last, Acre, 
the only remaining stronghold of the Christians, fell, and 
the Holy Land passed over into the power of the Mo- 
hammedans. 



The Crusades. 117 

Thus the immediate object of these Crusades was lost; 
but, in the ways of Providence, they rid Europe of many 
of its desperate men, gave unanimity of sentiment to the 
Western nations, and brought from the East the knowl- 
edge of commerce, arts, and manufactures, whence sprung 
an interchange of trade which benefited Europe. 



1 1 8 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SOCIETY AND GERMAN CUSTOMS OF THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 

AT the end of two hundred years of Crusades, the 
Xjl period called " the Dark Ages " had passed away, 
and a dawn in culture of all kinds commenced. Up to 
that time, progress in the art of real German living had 
been gradual ; for while Italy was basking in the warmth 
of sunshine, Germany shivered under piercing winds and 
snow. While in Italy idle loungers in the warm evenings 
reclined on couches upon the flat roofs, the houses of 
the Germans had pointed gables and sloping sides, that 
the rain might run off and the snow not lodge. They 
were built with towers and miniature battlements, so that 
every man's house was his fortress and stronghold. To 
this day, in some parts of Germany, are to be seen many 
houses of the old type, with the family rooms built above 
the cattle-stalls, an entrance wide enough for a wagon- 
load of corn, the servants quarters still being below, with 
the spinning-wheel, shuttle, and loom, and the floor of 
solid beaten earth covered with sweet, clean straw. There 
is an immense high roof with port-holes and palisades, a 
gallery running around the upper rooms which used to 
serve as the only means of communication. In those 
early days, even beds of straw were too great a luxury 
except for nobles, and rushes kept the feet warm and dry. 
In the time of Charlemagne, even the palaces were 
built of wood and had thatched roofs; but a little later the 
stone houses, and churches with slated roofs, came into 



German Customs of Thirteenth Century. 119 

use. In the old days, there were not even candles; and 
when the firelight would not serve all the purposes, a pine 
knot was placed in a hole dug in the masonry, and, 
when lighted, illumined the whole house or castle. Fi- 
nally, when oil-lamps and candles of tallow and wax were 
invented, they were used only as luxuries by the rich. 
The grandees soon sought to hide their whitewashed 
walls with embroidered hangings, and, as is the case now, 
there was a shelf built around the wall to show off the 
metal tankards and silver dishes for family use, the habit- 
ual spotlessness and brilliancy of these confirming the 
national creed that " cleanliness is next to godliness." 

In those days they did not forget the minstrels who, 
at feasts, sang of the good old times when men were free 
and women ever fair ; long before the Crusades galleries 
were set apart for these ever-welcome guests. 

The Crusades changed the whole style of German noble 
life. Before the men set out, vast estates were often 
pawned for costly furs, embroidered cushions, hangings of 
purple dye, pavilions worked in gold, showy costumes, and 
shining armor. These journeys to the East also filled the 
Crusaders with dreams of art and fashion never thought 
of before. Antioch with all its wealth was a great revela- 
tion when it fell into the Crusaders' hands; and when the 
religious fever died out, men began to think more of 
the superb fabrics they could carry home ; they studied 
the golden domes and marble palaces of Constantinople 
instead of the Sepulchre of their Lord. Shiploads of 
Damascus tissues and crystal glass from Tyre were 
carried to Venice over new routes opened through the 
ingenuity awakened by the interchange of thought. 

Knights who had carelessly taken the vows learned 
true knighthood from the Saracen hosts. The home life 
in the castle put on a new look, and the castle itself 



I20 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

became more unlike the dungeon near by ; all the adorn- 
ments were costly and beautiful, and dress was a great 
centre of thought. Carpets were brought from the East, 
and improved timepieces, which are still seen in some of 
the old palaces ; these took the place of the water-clocks 
such as were first seen when Haroun-al-Raschid sent his 
gift to Charlemagne. 

In the great hall there were expensive sideboards, the 
stately chair of the lord, the couch with canopy, the cup- 
board with brilliant china, the chests for wearing apparel ; 
there was also always glittering armor on the walls. In 
this apartment, where vassals and lords assembled and 
banquets were served, there was a spiral staircase, which 
led to the guest-chambers above. Outside was a spacious 
court, around which were the stables, the servants' quar- 
ters, and, on one or two sides, the palace walls. Soon the 
stone floors, which had succeeded the rushes, gave place 
to marble of varied colors ; even mosaics, like those 
the old Romans had for floors, were introduced; while 
sculptures, carvings, and mural paintings, resembling the 
more ancient works of art, came into vogue, and Venetian 
mirrors took the place of those of polished steel. Large 
windows of painted glass were used instead of alabaster 
and small pieces of porcelain, which, although letting in 
no light, had seemed so short a time ago magnificently 
fine. Chimneys came into use ; and around the vast fire- 
place the family group appeared, ever welcoming strangers 
with the bountiful hospitality of biblical times. Carriages 
vv^ere not yet used, but rank was indicated by the accoutre- 
ment of the war-horse and the fine palfrey. The nobles 
and rich burghers were not alone the sharers of these 
improvements, for the condition of the rural classes was 
alike changed. 



TJie HoJieustaiifcii Dynasty. 12 1 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE HOHENSTAUFEN DYNASTY. 

LoTHAiR II. Conrad III. 

1125 — 1152 A.D. 

THERE was no one to mourn the death of Henry V., 
which took place in tlie year 1 125 ; for even his effort 
to increase the imperial autliority was neutralized by his 
coldness and want of principle as a man. He left his 
estates and treasures to his nephew, Frederick of Hohen- 
staufen; but the crown jewels and insignia were bestowed 
by the National Diet on his successor. 

Three dynasties at this time had passed from history, 
and the scene again opens on the banks of tlie same beau- 
tiful river. Four nobles, the head of the dukedoms of 
Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, and Bavaria, assembled on the 
Rhine with sixty thousand subjects to elect a new king ; 
each of these dukes chose ten princes, each of the four 
groups of ten chose one elector, and the four electors, 
after nominating three candidates, elected the king. The 
candidates were Frederick, Duke of Swabia, of the Hohen- 
staufen line, Lothair of Saxony, and Leopold of Austria. 

Since the Hohenstaufen family had stood faithfully by 
Henry IV. and Henry V. in their conflicts with the Pope, 
the dynasty was unpopular with the clergy. Therefore, 
after a very stormy session, the Diet chose Lothair of 
Saxony, because it was thought that he was the weakest 
character, and would be more under the direct influence 



122 Germaiiy : Her People and Their Story. 

of the Pope. This choice lighted the first spark in the 
great quarrel between " Guelphs and Ghibellines," which 
caused numberless wars and lasted many years. 

Lothair surrendered the only rights left to the sovereign 
by "The Concordat of Worms," — that of having the 
bishops and abbots appointed in the royal presence. He 
joined in marriage his own daughter Gertrude to Henry 
the Proud, Duke of Bavaria, grandson of Duke Welf, 
who, with Frederick of Swabia, was the last to sustain the 
cause of Henry IV., and whose family was called the 
" Welfs," or " Guelfs." By this marriage Henry the Proud 
became Duke of Saxony ; but the part of the dukedom 
called the North Mark was given to Albert the Bear, one 
of Lothair's friends. We speak of Lothair among the 
Hohenstaufen Emperors, because all the incidents of his 
reign were connected with that family, though he himself 
was a Saxon, and opposed to the Hohenstaufen dynasty. 

In 1 132 Lothair went to Rome, and was crowned by 
Innocent II., one of the two Popes then reigning. By pay- 
ing the church four hundred pounds annually, he acquired 
the territory of Countess Mathilda of Tuscany. Thus he 
reversed the former state of affairs, and for the first time 
acknowledged an Emperor as dependent upon the tem- 
poral power of the Pope. 

He returned to Italy a second time in 1 137, to put down 
an insurrection in Lombardy. But he was unsuccessful, 
and started back over the Brenner Pass, where he was 
seized with a mortal illness, and died in a shepherd's hut 
amongst the Tyrolean Alps. He was buried in a monas- 
tery in Saxony. 

In Wiirtemberg, at the angle where the Neckar meets 
the Rhine, there is a tableland of dry limestone capped 
with hills of volcanic formation, one of which used to be 



TJie HoJuiistanfcn Dynasty. 123 

called Mount Staufen. Frederick of Buren was the faith- 
ful knight who attended Henry IV. in his terrible journey- 
over the Alps, when he went to beg for mercy at Hilde- 
brand's castle door. Frederick's father, the elder Count 
of Buren, had climbed Mount Staufen and built a castle, 
founding the Hohenstaufen line, which became the stur- 
diest dynasty ancient Germany ever knew. The two 
sons of the younger Frederick of Staufen, Frederick and 
Conrad, were connected intimately with the election of 
Lothair. 

In 1 138, at Mainz, Conrad, the younger son, was chosen 
king. There was, near Mount Staufen, a town called 
Waiblingen, where Conrad III. was born ; and therefore 
the house was called "of Buren," ''of Hohenstaufen," 
"of Waiblingen." But as Waiblingen was a town and 
the other places were only castles, the princes of the 
dynasty were called Waiblingers. 

There was a strong opposition party of great promi- 
nence in the time of Lothair, which was headed by Lo- 
thair's son-in-law, Henry the Proud, Duke of Bavaria. 
Henry was a mighty prince, and held already half of the 
realm, so that, to him, the crown seemed more properly to 
belong ; but he had already made himself so conspicuous 
that the jealousy of the reigning princes was excited 
against him. As they had done in the case of Lothair, 
their policy was to choose a weak rather than a strong 
ruler, preferring one who would not interfere with their 
authority in their own lands. Conrad, brother of Fred- 
erick of Hohenstaufen, took advantage of this feeling, 
and courted the favor of the princes and bishops, so that 
he was chosen and crowned three months before the 
meeting of the Diet. When the Diet was called, all 
acquiesced in the election except Henry the Proud. 

The Bavarian dukes were called Welfen, since they 



1 24 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

were descended from that old Welf, Count of Bavaria, 
the father of Jutta (Judith), who was the wife of the 
Carlovingian king, Louis the Pious. It was he who hid 
himself in the Black Forest because his son consented 
to live under feudal obligations to the Emperor, the 
agreement between the ancient Welf and Louis the 
Pious being that the former should have, for his heredi- 
tary possessions, as much land in a circle as he could 
plough around, with a golden plough, while the Emperor 
slept. 

In order to sustain himself, Conrad III. felt that he 
must break his rival's great power ; therefore, declaring 
that Henry the Proud should not be allowed to hold two 
dukedoms at the same time, he took away his share of 
Saxony, giving it all to Albert the Bear, who already held 
the northeastern part. It was this Albert the Bear who 
afterwards founded Berlin. Henry the Proud now sum- 
moned the Saxons to his aid, but in 1139 he died, and his 
brother Welf continued the struggle in the interest of the 
former's son, afterwards called Henry the Lion. 

Although Welf tried to deliver Weinsberg, which was 
besieged by Conrad III., he failed. There is a story that, 
when the town was forced to surrender, the women sent 
a deputation to Conrad, begging to be allowed to leave 
the city with whatever property they could carry on their 
backs. Conrad had been so angry at the long resistance 
of this stronghold that, although he promised the women 
their liberty, he threatened to kill the men whenever he 
should take the place. When the provisions were ex- 
hausted, and Weinsberg finally yielded, the Emperor con- 
sented that all the women should be allowed unmolested 
to leave the town, and that they might carry with them 
their choicest treasures. The gate was opened ; down 
the hill came Countess Ida carrying on her back her hus- 



The Hohenstattfen Dynasty. 125 

band, Welf ; she was followed by all the women of Weins- 
berg carrying their husbands, fathers, sons, and lovers, 
also on their backs. Some of the army wanted to stop 
the strange procession and slay the men ; but Conrad was 
touched by the women's devotion, and answered, "Not 
so; I gave my word, and the word of an Emperor must 
never be broken," The hill where these events happened 
has ever since been called " Weibertreu," or woman's 
fidelity. In 1820 Charlotte, Queen of Wiirtemberg, with 
other German ladies, built an asylum on this spot for 
poor women who had been noted for self-sacrificing deeds 
of love. 

It was in this battle that "Welf" and "Waibling" 
were first used as war-cries, and in the Italian language 
they became " Guelphs and Ghibellines ; " and for hun- 
dreds of years, during the entire period of the Hohen- 
staufen dynasty, and through all the contests of Church 
and State, these names continued to be significant as 
battle-cries. 

The term Welf (Guelf) soon began to mean the party 
of the Pope ; Waiblingen (Ghibellines) that of the German 
Emperor. The first conflict ended in 1122, when Henry 
the Lion, great-grandson of the ancient Duke Welf, was 
allowed to be Duke of Saxony. From him descended the 
later Dukes of Brunswick and Hanover, who still kept the 
name of Guelf, this being the family of Queen Victoria of 
England through George I. 

When Henry the Lion was allowed to be Duke of 
Saxony, Albert the Bear had to content himself with his 
original possessions. The Northern Mark, which extended 
to the east, was called the Mark of Brandenburg ; it was 
made independent, and Albert the Bear called himself 
"Margraf " (border count). Thus, in 1142, was laid the 
basis of Prussia, or "Borussia" as it was then called, 



^# 



126 Germajiy : Her People and Their Story. 

this being the name of a Slavonic tribe. This was the 
nucleus, through the subsequent consolidation of the 
dukedoms of Brandenberg and Hohenzollern, of the pres- 
ent great Empire, which in spite of all its disasters has 
continued to extend its boundaries up to the present time. 

In 1 147 Conrad III. was forced by the excitement of 
the times to head the second Crusade. Frederick Bar- 
barossa and other prominent princes, in the depths of 
winter, put the cross upon their mantles, and with their 
armies accompanied him ; for the monarchy in Jerusalem, 
under Baldwin, cousin of Godfrey of Bouillon, was threat- 
ened by the Saracens. During the year 11 49 the Cru- 
sader returned with a few surviving followers. 

Conrad III. now made plans to visit Italy to be 
crowned; for the Roman Senate had invited him to make 
Rome the permanent capital of the Empire after his 
coronation. The National Diet at Wiirzburg confirmed 
the movement; but while making preparations for his 
departure, he died, in 1152, at Bamberg, and was buried 
in the same Cathedral which Henry II. had built and in 
which he was entombed. 

When Conrad III. was at Constantinople, in the time 
of the Crusades, he saw that the Byzantine Emperor bore 
on his imperial standard a two-headed eagle, represent- 
ing the double Empire which had been united under 
Constantine and his successors. Conrad was so struck 
with the idea, that when he came home he assumed the 
double eagle as the arms of his Empire; and it may be 
seen on the coins of both the Emperor of Germany and 
the Emperor of Austria at the present day. There is a 
story told that one of the grand-dukes of Austria was out 
shooting in the Tyrol some years ago, when a huntsman 
bringing down an eagle, the grand-duke picked it up and 
said, ''Why, what a queer eagle! it has only one head." 



Frederick Barbarossa. 127 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE HOHENSTAUFEN LINE CONTINUED. FREDERICK 

BARBAROSSA. 

1153—1190 A.D. 

THE next heir to the throne, excepting an infant son, 
whose election the Diet would not confirm, was 
Conrad's nephew, Frederick, Duke of Swabia. The Ital- 
ians called him Barbarossa, or "red beard " on account of 
a tinge of red in his beard; and by this name he is known 
in history. He was thirty-one years old, a man superior 
in judgment and intellect, a renowned warrior, tall, 
stately, handsome, and very popular, — in every respect a 
thorough German in character. He was elected without 
opposition, and crowned immediately after at Aix-la- 
Chapelle. His mother was a Welf princess, and since 
he was a Waiblinger, it seemed as if the rivalry between 
the two parties would come to an end. 

Since the accession of Otto the Great, no German mon- 
arch had been crowned under circumstances so favorable, 
and not one had embodied so many attributes of an able 
sovereign. He gave to the German princes the assurance 
of the rights they already held as rulers of States, on 
condition that they should fulfil their obligations to him. 
He showed the will, the decision, and the courage, and 
had the impressive personal bearing, of one who felt him- 
self born to rule ; and had he remained contented with 
trying to unite the German States into one nation, in- 
stead of reaching after the "old phantom " of a Roman 



128 Germany: Her People and TJieir Story. 

Empire, he would have been the greatest ruler Germany 
ever knew. 

In 1 154 Barbarossa, with a large army, accompanied by 
Henry the Lion and other important princes, crossed the 
Brenner Pass in the Tyrol, and descended into Italy. 
According to an old custom they pitched their camps in 
the Roncalian fields near Piacenza, the royal shield be- 
ing set up as a sign that the king was there in the capacity 
of judge in the political disturbances which were then 
likely to occur. 

Many complaints were brought against the city of 
Milan, which already had become a haughty and despotic 
republic, and was even now beginning to tyrannize over 
Lodi, Como, and neighboring cities. After having been 
crowned King of Lombardy at Pavia, Barbarossa marched 
towards Rome for the purpose of receiving the crown of 
the Empire. But this was not to take place without many 
humiliations and much sacrifice of self-respect. 

Rome was now a republic, and had driven Pope Hadrian 
IV. from its doors. Frederick Barbarossa was obliged to 
sign an agreement to overthrow the republic, and to cap- 
ture Arnold of Brescia who was the forerunner of all mod- 
ern reformers. According to a papal decree, Barbarossa, 
before he could be crowned, was forced to deliver Arnold 
of Brescia into Pope Hadrian's hands to be burned, be- 
cause that reformer and patriot believed that the Church 
should be purged from its corruption, and that the clergy 
be allowed no interests of a secular kind. But the Pope re- 
garded this as a dangeous doctrine, and, as one of the con- 
ditions of Frederick's being crowned, also demanded that 
he should submit to the humiliation of holding the stir- 
rup when he mounted his mule. Barbarossa, for the time 
being, accepted all these requirements with meekness, and, 
in spite of the resistance of the people, entered Rome at 



Frederick Barbarossa. 129 

the right bank of the Tiber, and was crowned Emperor in 
hot haste. The Romans regarded it as an outrage that at 
the coronation no oath to respect tlie laws of the city had 
been required. Therefore he was obliged to withdraw im- 
mediately from the town, a large body of Romans treach- 
erously attacking the Germans in their camp. A bloody 
conflict ensued, in which Frederick was only saved from 
death by the courage of Henry the Lion. The Germans 
were victorious ; and the Emperor exclaimed, " We have 
indeed bought the imperial crown, not with silver, but 
with iron, according to the German fashion." But not- 
withstanding this, he was obliged to retire to Tivoli, and 
afterwards to Southern Italy, for the purpose of wrest- 
ing the provinces from the Norman conquerors. A pesti- 
lence broke out ; and the heat became so intense that Bar- 
barossa was driven from Italy, fighting his way through 
Italian ground. 

One robber stronghold, the castle of the wild Alberich 
of Verona in the Tyrol, brought the army to a halt. For 
Alberich of Verona's soldiers pelted them with stones, and 
demanded tribute for horses and knights, and even for the 
Emperor himself. In a narrow mountain gorge. Otto of 
Wittelbach, with two hundred picked men, climbed up the 
rocks to a point commanding the castle, and taking the 
inmates by surprise, killed them all, including the count 
himself ; and thereupon he planted the imperial banner 
on the heights. 

There used to be a punishment of a peculiar kind 
inflicted on distinguished nobles and bishops which was 
felt to be the acme of everything which was disgraceful 
and humiliating to their rank. This consisted in forcing 
princes and nobles of every degree to carry dogs in their 
arms before the imperial palace for a distance of five 
English miles, amidst the shouts and derision of the 



1 30 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

crowds. When Barbarossa returned to Germany, he set 
about the work, in a most diligent manner, of reforming 
the customs of the country, and insuring peace and secu- 
rity. He executed many robber knights, tearing down 
their castles, and also inflicted the penalty of "dog-carry- 
ing " on fourteen reigning princes. This seems to have 
been to them a far more terrible chastisement than the 
loss of their castles or death itself. Count Palatine Her- 
mann immediately after suffering this humiliation retired 
into a cloister, and died of a broken heart. 

At this time, Beatrice, a lovely lady of rank, and heiress 
to the immense territory of Burgundy, was seized by her 
cousin William, and cast into a tower, where he intended 
to keep her captive that he might inherit her lands. She, 
however, found means to solicit the aid of Barbarossa, 
who released her from the hands of her oppressor, and 
made her his own wife. She was very charming, and 
the ornament of the Hohenstaufen court, and the mother 
of Barbarossa's five sons. At a Diet in Wiirzburg, soon 
after their marriage, there were ambassadors present from 
every civilized land. Henry H. of England sent mag- 
nificent presents with greetings, saying "England and 
all else we offer to thee ; let there be concord and union 
between our nations in such a way that thou, as the 
greater, shall retain the right to command, and our side 
shall not be wanting in the will to obey." 

At this Wiirzburg Diet, two Legates from the Pope 
brought a communication in which Hadrian spoke of the 
imperial crown as a fief. The assembly was so excited 
that one of the legates. Cardinal Roland, cried, "Why this 
excitement ? From whom did the Emperor receive the 
Empire, if not from the Pope ? " Otto of Wittelbach drew 
his sword, and would have struck the rash ambassador dead 
had not the Emperor prevented. Barbarossa then sent 



Frederick Barbarossa. 13 1 

the envoy back to Rome, and issued a proclamation de- 
claring that the imperial power was from God alone, and 
that he should regard as an enemy of Christ any one who 
considered his crown a Papal fief. At this time he even 
proposed that the Empire should organize a German Cath- 
olic Church with an independent Pope. Hadrian in his 
alarm apologized, and said the word used did not mean a 
fief. 

By his marriage with Beatrice, Barbarossa cemented 
Burgundy to Germany ; he gave Bavaria to Henry the 
Lion, and made an independent dukedom of Austria, 
thus pacifying Duke Henry. Henry the Lion was en- 
couraged by Frederick to extend his Saxon territory from 
the Elbe to the Baltic ; it was the former who founded 
Munich, raising it from a cluster of peasants' huts to the 
dignity of a city. 

Barbarossa was also pleased when Albert the Bear, 
Count of Brandenburg, followed the same policy that 
Henry the Lion had pursued ; for as long as these nobles 
acted under his authority, his own dominion was all the 
time increasing in extent and power. In those days they 
used to sing this rhyme : — 

" Henry the Lion and Albert the Bear, 
Thereto Frederick with the red hair ; 
Three lords are they 
Who could change the world to their way." 

By his own influence Barbarossa modified the attitude 
of all the princes and prelates; and when Hadrian IV. 
saw the bishops turning against him on account of his 
treatment of Barbarossa, he was obliged to alter his course, 
so that one would hardly recognize in the humiliated and 
apologetic Pope the man whose stirrup Barbarossa had 
held while he mounted his mule. 

At that early epoch Milan was always revolting, and 



132 Ger7nany : Her People and Tlieir Story. 

this city in 1158 called Barbarossa again over the Alps 
with one hundred thousand men to subdue it. The 
walls of the town were nine miles in circumference ; but, 
after a month he compelled it to surrender, to pay nine 
thousand pounds in silver, and to rebuild Lodi, which the 
Milanese had brutally torn down. 

Barbarossa, seeing how general the recognition of his 
authority had become, took the opportunity to revive the 
old Roman laws. He had a code drawn up defining his 
prerogatives and those of the German princes. Four old 
doctors in the University of Bologna discovered so many 
imperial rights which had fallen into disuse that Barba- 
rossa's treasury was enriched thirty thousand pounds an- 
nually. But when Milan and the Lombard cities found 
that on account of the new developments they had lost 
the privilege of electing their own magistrates, they re- 
sisted, and a war ensued. 

It has been said that Frederick Barbarossa, with all 
his strong points, was despotic and merciless in his 
revenge. He never committed greater cruelty than in 
the case of Milan. After a long siege, having forced it 
to surrender in 1163, he compelled the magistrates to 
come in sackcloth before him, and twelve of the chief 
burghers were obliged to appear, their naked swords tied 
around their necks; finally the people of the city came 
also with ropes around their necks and in rags, begging 
him in tears to be merciful. At the sight of their fallen 
city, the people wept so bitterly that even Barbarossa's 
stern warriors shed tears of pity; but the Emperor's heart 
seemed turned to stone. He gave the inhabitants eight 
days to leave the town ; then he levelled it to the ground, 
and sowed salt upon the ruins as a warning that it must 
never be rebuilt. The rival cities, Pavia, Lodi, and Como, 
were so rejoiced, and so terrified withal, that they sub- 



Frederick Barbarossa. 133 

mitted to all Barbarossa's claims, even to letting him 
choose their magistrates. 

On his fourth visit to Italy a pestilence attacked his 
army; and the Emperor was obliged to steal through Lom- 
bardy as a fugitive, hiding for months among the shep- 
herds in the Alps. At this time, when he was thought 
dead, and his wife had put on mourning for him, he sud- 
denly reappeared. 

At Susa a band of armed men broke into Barbarossa's 
chamber at night; and while he escaped by another door, 
his faithful knight, Herman of Sieveneichen, threw him- 
self into the bed to receive the death-blow which was 
intended for the Emperor; but before the blow was given, 
he was recognized, and was about to be slain by the Lom- 
bards, when, on account of his faithfulness, he was spared. 

After this Barbarossa remained six years at home; but 
his fifth visit to Italy was made eventful by the treachery 
of Henry the Lion, whereby the latter lost the most of 
his dominion. He had resolved to be revenged on ac- 
count of what he considered slights he had received from 
Barbarossa. An opportunity occurred in 1178, when Bar- 
barossa, having crossed the mountains to put down an 
uprising among the Lombards, called upon him for his 
help under circumstances of great necessity. Barbarossa 
fell ill at Como, and Henry told him he would desert him 
if he did not yield to his exorbitant demands. Since the 
Lombards, in insurrection, were drawing near, Frederick 
entreated him on his knees to be true to him and to his 
country. The Empress Beatrice raised her husband and 
said, " God will help you, and remember the Welf's inso- 
lence some future day." 

A battle was fought with the Lombards, who far out- 
numbered Barbarossa's troops. Henry withdrew with 
the division under him, and Barbarossa's army was fear. 



1 34 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

fully cut to pieces. The Emperor escaped to Germany, 
where he found the indignation against Henry the Lion so 
great that he put him under the ban, and gave his duke- 
dom to his faithful follower. Count Otto of Wittelbach, 
who was heir to the royal house of Bavaria. This time^ 
Henry the Lion on his knees begged for pardon ; but 
Frederick banished him to England, and left him only 
Brunswick. Afterwards, when Frederick besieged Bruns- 
wick, Mathilda, the wife of Henry the Lion and daughter 
of Henry IL of England, lay sick in bed, and sent to Bar- 
barossa asking that some wine might be sent in to her. 
He replied that he would rather give her Brunswick than 
to have her suffer ; he then drew off his troops. The 
house of Brunswick ever after belonged to the Guelfs. 

The downfall of Henry the Lion fully restored Freder- 
ick Barbarossa's authority over Germany ; he was now at 
the height of his glory. At a great festival at Mainz, in 
1184, such as Charlemagne and Otto the Great had held 
to celebrate their glorious deeds, Frederick Barbarossa 
met all the princes, lords, bishops, scholars, and minstrels 
of the land, and hundreds of thousands of knights, includ- 
ing the flower of chivalry ; they were all lodged in tents 
of silk and gold, and the whole scene was one of resplen- 
dent magnificence. Barbarossa was still in his full 
strength ; and although sixty-three years old, he rode at the 
head of the tournament, a type of manly grace and beauty. 
His five stalwart sons rode beside him, the eldest, Prince 
Henry, afterward Henry VI., already having been crowned 
as his successor : his other sons he knighted that day. 
For many years after, the wandering minstrels sang the 
glories of this festival, which they compared to those 
given in honor of King Arthur and his Round Table. 

Frederick Barbarossa now went to Italy for the last 
time, without an army, but accompanied by a magnificent 




Barbarossa and Beatrice. 



Frederick Barbarossa. 135 

retinue. The confederacies formed against him had been 
torn asunder by jealousies, so that each city was trying 
to gain his favor. About this time Pope Urban II. died; 
he had opposed the marriage of Barbarossa's son Henry 
with Constance, daughter of the King of Sicily ; and now 
the marriage was celebrated, in 1186, after which Henry 
was crowned King of the Romans, the first time this had 
happened while an Emperor was alive. 

The next year the whole city was shaken by the news 
that Jerusalem, which had hitherto continued in the hands 
of the Christians, had been lost. The Christians had 
neglected their sacred duties, living such corrupt lives, 
under the shadow of the Holy Sepulchre, that the Sultan 
Saladin, who was a wise, just, and learned man, had de- 
termined to reconquer his country ; and he was now in 
possession of all the holy places. 

The third Crusade was soon undertaken. Barbarossa, 
who fought the Saracens with great courage, was sup- 
ported by Philip II., King of France, and Richard the 
Lion-Hearted. In his advance he showed a military skill 
and valor which made the expedition a memorable one. 
Instead of paying tribute to the enemy to liberate the 
Christians, Barbarossa inspired such fear that Saladin 
offered to make peace. 

After he had taken the city of Iconium, defeating the 
Sultan, he was hastening on to Jerusalem, hoping by re- 
conquering the Holy Sepulchre to add the most glorious 
crown to his possession; but on the loth of June, 1190, 
while fording the river Saleph, not far from Tarsus, where 
the Apostle Paul was born, Barbarossa was drowned. The 
water was ice-cold from the melting snow, and the chill 
rendered the old king unable to struggle with the waves. 
His followers brought him to Antioch ; and although 
Richard the Lion-Hearted and the King of France held 



136 Gcrnia)iy : Her People and TJicir Story. 

out a little longer, the Crusade was practically broken 
up. 

Frederick Barbarossa's enlarged and liberal views 
helped to ennoble and elevate his people ; the most flour- 
ishing period of the old German Empire in morals, poetry, 
and culture was in his time. No Emperor, before or after 
him, maintained so complete authority over the German 
princes. He established order and security in the life of 
the common people, and a new era for them dawned in 
his reign. 

Barbarossa always represented to the Germans a grand 
national idea, being their type of German greatness ; and 
when he went away on his noble mission and never re- 
turned, the people refused to believe he was dead. By 
degrees the legend took root that he slept in a vault 
underneath Kyffhauser, one of his castles on the summit 
of the Hartz Mountains, and that when the ravens ceased 
to fly round the mountain, he would come forth at the 
appointed time to make Germany united and free ; there- 
fore the name of Barbarossa, like that of Arminius, is 
sacred to every patriotic German heart to this day. 



Hohejistaiifen Line Cotitinued. 137 



CHAPTER XVI. 

HOHENSTAUFEN LINE CONTINUED. DEATH OF HENRY 

THE LION. HENRY VI. PHILIP. OTTO IV. 

FREDERICK II. 

1190— 1240 A.D. 

HENRY VI., son of Barbarossa, was twenty-five years 
of age when he was crowned Emperor in Rome, 
1 19 1 A.D. Although the opposition of the nobles seemed 
to have been suppressed in Barbarossa's reign, it awoke 
again at his sudden death. Henry the Lion revolted, 
Henry VI. fought against the princes, and all the strife 
of the Guelfs and Ghibellines continued with unabated 
force. In 1192, while the fight was still going on between 
the two parties, Richard the Lion- Hearted, returning 
home from Palestine, was taken prisoner by Leopold of 
Austria on account of a quarrel between them during the 
time of the Crusades. Richard was afterwards delivered 
up to Henry VI, for the purpose of gaining an enormous 
ransom; and being a brother-in-law of Henry the Lion, 
he was held as a hostage. The mother of Richard the 
Lion-Hearted came over from England, and gave the one 
hundred and fifty thousand marks which the Emperor 
demanded. Still Richard was kept a prisoner at Duren- 
stein on the Danube in Austria. 

A legend relates that Blondel, a minstrel, discovered 
Richard's place of imprisonment by singing the king's 
favorite song under the window of all the castles near 
the Rhine,- until the strain was taken up in answer and 



138 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

sung by his master. When Blondel heard the voice of 
Richard, he exclaimed, " That must be the king, my king ! " 
He lost no time in returning to England and proclaiming 
to the country where he had found Richard. " Let us 
ransom him, and set him free," he urged; and although 
this was not easily done, a reconciliation was finally 
effected by Henry the Lion. 

In his later days Henry the Lion devoted himself to 
the improvement of the people of Brunswick, and spent 
his time reading old family chronicles and legends con- 
taining events of the years gone by. He died in 1195, 
beloved and honored, and was mourned as a benefactor 
even by those who, in his quarrels with Frederick Bar- 
barossa, had felt that he was a tyrant. History makes 
no record of two such strong contemporary characters. 
There was only a difference of three years in their ages, 
and each was alike renowned for energy and ability. 
Both while quarrelling, were working for the enduring 
welfare of Germany. The character of Henry the Lion 
would have shone far brighter except for his differences 
with Barbarossa, whose greatness was well nigh rivalled 
by his own. 

Upon Henry's grave in the Cathedral at Braunschweig 
lies a lion. The legend runs that Henry had rescued it 
from the claws of a dragon, and never after would it leave 
Henry's side. Together they went through Syria's bar- 
ren desert ; and wherever the Welf went, the lion like a 
shadow followed his steps. When the duke's eyes closed 
in death, the lion lay still and sad beside his friend. In 
vain they took him away, and made him a prisoner behind 
iron bars; but he would ever return, resting near his mas- 
ter, keeping all away from his grave. At the end of four 
days they found him dead on his master's tomb. Thus 
all these centuries there the lion has remained. 



Death of Hoiry the Lion. 139 

Henry VI. took the money gained by the ransom of 
Richard of England to purchase tlie assistance of Geneva 
and Pisa in annexing Sicily to his own dominion. He 
also desired France as a dependency, and tried to appro- 
priate Spain. He had great ambition for a universal 
Empire, and desired to make all of these countries into 
one hereditary monarchy. He conceived the idea of tak- 
ing Constantinople, and of joining the new Crusade under 
the auspices of Innocent III.; but he died suddenly at 
the age of thirty-two years, in 1197, at Messina. Just 
before his death a legend says that a rider, supposed to 
be the giant form of Theodoric the Great, on a black 
war-horse, passed along the banks of the Rhine, presaging, 
as all thought, trouble to the Empire. 

Henry had been a vindictive and often cruel sovereign, 
treating his enemies with shocking barbarity, so that he 
was sometimes compared, in the fear and hatred which he 
engendered, to Nero, the tyrant of Rome. 

Again the crown of the Empire fell to a child ; for 
Henry VI. left his wife, Constance of Sicily, with a boy 
three years old, whose name was Frederick. He had 
been chosen King of the Romans as soon as he was born, 
and was called "The Child of Apulia," on account of his 
adoption by the Pope. The German princes, however, 
were determined to have no child again on the throne ; 
and so this poor little fellow, although a ward of the 
Pope, ever since his queen mother died, led a lonely 
existence in his Sicilian home, never knowing certainly 
whether he would ever be a sovereign in anything except 
in his own right. Philip of Swabia, the only surviving 
son of Barbarossa, had been about to conduct the boy 
from Italy to be crowned ; for the sake of keeping the 
sovereignty in his own house, however, when he knew 
that the child could not be chosen, he consented to being 



140 Gennany : Her People and Their Story. 

elected Emperor himself. But the enemies of the Hohen- 
staufen, with the Archbishop of Cologne, resisted him ; 
and a Welf, Otto IV., son of Henry the Lion, was elevated 
to the throne, his claims being favored by Richard of 
England and the Pope. Philip was nevertheless crowned 
in Miilhausen in Thuringia. 

Thereupon there was civil war in Germany between the 
two rival emperors, just as Innocent III., the mightiest of 
all the Popes next to Gregory VII., was raised to St. 
Peter's chair. Under his dominion the Papal power 
became almost supreme. He declared for Otto, placing 
the ban upon Philip ; but the latter fought bravely for 
his imperial rights. He had the aspiring mind, knightly 
spirit, handsome figure, and poetic temperament of Bar- 
barossa. Again the cries of Welf and Waibling resounded 
far and wide. The Hohenstaufen, however, were at last 
victorious, and Otto defeated. He was acknowledged as 
emperor nowhere but in Saxony, and Philip's success 
seemed assured ; but in the very hour of triumph he was 
murdered by Otto of Wittelsbach. 

Soon after this, in 1209, Frederick, now a boy of four- 
teen, who had been acknowledged King of Sicily, and was 
already married to the beautiful Constance of Aragon, 
heard that his uncle, Philip of Swabia, had been mur- 
dered, that Otto had collected a force at Augsburg, and 
having made every concession, even agreeing to receive 
the Empire as a fief, was now marching to Italy to receive 
the Roman diadem. It is said that Innocent III. wept 
for joy on being able to crown a Welf as Emperor. 

Had Otto continued to abide by his agreement with the 
Pope, young Frederick, though still 2i. protege oi his Holi- 
ness, would have been obliged to content himself with his 
Sicilian kingdom; for Otto, being accepted by the Ger- 
mans, had made great capital by proceeding against the 



Frederick II. 141 

murderers of Philip, wlio had been overtaken at Ratisbon 
and slain. Afterwards Otto again set out for Italy, and 
was threatening Frederick's kingdom, when a long strug- 
gle commenced between the two rivals for imperial power. 

Frederick 11. had now arrived at the age of eighteen 
years, and was much more of an Italian than a German 
prince; while resembling his grandfather Barbarossa in 
decision of character, he had also acquired the knowledge 
and refinements of an Italian court. He understood and 
spoke six languages fluently ; he was a poet and a minstrel, 
a statesman, and already a leader of men. 

Pope Innocent III., having fallen out with Otto, called 
upon the German princes to recognize Frederick, at 
the same time sending one Anselm von Justingen, with 
a detachment of soldiers, to conduct the young prince into 
Germany. At this time, though scarcely more than a 
boy, the resources of Frederick's subsequent large and 
versatile character began to appear. In journeying to 
Germany from Italy he met with wonderful experiences, 
the way being filled with danger and treachery on every 
side ; for Otto's men were hiding all about, on land and 
sea, lying in wait to capture him secretly. As he ad- 
vanced, Frederick found the German cities so hostile to 
him that he was obliged to cross the Alps by a secret 
path, while at the same time he was followed, under the 
cover of the night, by bands of Otto's men, who were 
always in close pursuit. When he reached the Brenner 
Pass the body-guard furnished by the Pope turned back, 
not daring to enter German territory; and it was here 
he learned that all the way from Botzen to Innsbruck the 
mountains were filled with Otto's men, waiting to inter- 
cept him, while Otto himself was following closely in his 
track in order to cut off his retreat. But the dauntless 
youth thought not of turning back; for "before him lay 



142 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

the Empire and renown, while behind was only Italy and 
defeat." 

Frederick then pushed forward with only forty knights, 
by a chamois path over the Alps, through the Grisons to 
St. Gall. This was in September, the season when the 
narrow track is often filled in by deep snows coming 
quick from the autumn blizzards which so early visit the 
lofty peaks of the Alps. When he arrived at St. Gall, he 
learned that Otto, with a band of two hundred knights, 
was coming up from Bregenz, on the other side of the lake, 
to meet him, and cut him off from Constance. Skirting 
the right bank, he sent an embassy of bishops in his train 
ahead, to notify the city to be ready to receive his little 
band. At the same moment the sentinel, watching from 
the tower, saw Otto's army hurrying up, while the noise of 
the cavalcade was heard approaching. The drawbridge 
was lowered ; and in an instant Frederick and his small 
band of faithful followers clattered through the gates and 
into the town, through the very streets made famous by 
the entry of old Barbarossa a quarter of a century before. 
Constance was won, and with it all of Swabia. Otto came 
furiously on, but "Constance opens only to the bidding of 
its rightful lord." Glancing up to the old tower, he saw 
the Hohenstaufen youth with his retinue ; and looking 
down, he beheld the drawbridge raised. Then, without 
risking a battle. Otto M-ith his adherents returned to 
Saxony, 

For three years the rivals stood at bay, neither taking 
up arms against the other, then Otto "rushed on his 
doom." 

The stately bearing of Frederick II., inherited from his 
grandfather Barbarossa, the charm and refinement of his 
manners cultivated by his early training, and his gene- 
rosity to all who were friendly to him, increased greatly 



Fjrdej'ick II. 143 

the number of his supporters, and meanwhile he had 
gained the assistance of Pliilip of France. 

The tide had turned against Otto IV. ; he had been 
signally defeated in the war with France, and his influence 
in Germany was at an end. He had also experienced 
many family troubles ; his second wife, Mary of Brabant, 
having gambled away great sums of money at dice, for 
the payment of which he was obliged to sacrifice his 
family estates. 

In 1215 Lorraine and Holland declared for Frederick 
II., who was that same year crowned with great pomp at 
Aix-la-Chapelle. Otto lived three years longer, and died 
poor and unhonored. On his death-bed he sent his crown 
to Frederick II. Brunswick and Luneburg were inherited 
by his nephew Otto, who was the ancestor of the house 
of Brunswick, from which sprung the present ruling family 
of England. The year of Frederick's coronation was 
the date of Rudolf of Hapsburg's birth. 

Pope Innocent III. died in 12 16. The doctrine of 
transubstantiation was introduced by him, and he also 
forbade the reading of the Bible without special permis- 
sion from a bishop. He was the Pope who brought up 
the troublesome question concerning the withholding of 
the communion cup from laymen. 

As the Church desired to keep separate the German and 
Italian governments. Innocent III. had made a treaty with 
Frederick II. before he was crowned, in which the latter 
had taken his oath that he would content himself with 
the German dominion, in order that the two sovereignties 
should never be united under one head. Frederick also 
agreed to make a Crusade ; but in accordance with the 
fickleness of the times, he forgot all his promises imme- 
diately after the death of Innocent III. ; he had his son 
Henry crowned as German king, and thereupon he him- 



144 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

self received the imperial diadem. Some have accused 
Frederick of turning back from the promised Crusade 
under the false pretext of being ill ; but at that time he 
had no occasion to seek for Saracen conquests abroad, 
for the Saracens in Sicily were now in open revolt. 

In I220 he and his wife, Constance of Aragon, were 
crowned at Rome by the new Pope Honorius, amidst the 
acclamations of the Roman people ; but the union between 
a Hohenstaufen and a Pope could not endure, neither 
could any alliance between the Church and government 
be more than a rope of sand ; for Frederick was destined 
to become the bitterest enemy of the Holy See. 

Frederick spent the intervening years, before he finally 
made his Crusade, in work for his Norman kingdom, and 
in trying to subject the cities of the Lombard Confederacy, 
which were still under the influence of Milan, and which 
up to the present time has been always incorrigible. 

In 1228, notwithstanding having been excommunicated 
by the Pope on account of having given up the Crusade, 
Frederick II. started out for the East; since for forty 
years the cry for the recovery of Jerusalem had been 
agitated. But this crusade was by no means acceptable 
to Gregory IX., for he regarded it as sacrilegious for an 
Emperor under the ban of the church to enlist in the ser- 
vice of God ; therefore, if he stayed or if he went, and re- 
turned, the ban was alike hurled against him. His wife 
Constance in the meantime had died ; and the second mar- 
riage he had made with lolanthe, the daughter of John de 
Brienne, the exiled king of Jerusalem, had placed Frede- 
rick in a new relation to the Holy Land ; so he felt that 
he had the right, which he afterwards assumed, of being 
crowned King of Jerusalem. He gained the office for 
which Christendom had striven in vain for forty years, con- 
ducting this Crusade with the most brilliant success of any 



Frederick II. 145 

which had been undertaken since the one wliich Godfrey 
had made so many years before. His attempt was not tliat 
of a private pilgrim, nor like that of any ordinary Emperor 
of Christendom, but the action of a king going to take 
possession of his own throne. He is said to have had 
less trouble in gaining Jerusalem for himself than some 
of his predecessors had in acquiring the crown of Rome. 
He secured for the Christians a truce of ten years, and 
freed Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Mount Carmel 
from the hands of the Infidels. Since the Pope had laid 
the city under the ban which was to last while Frederick 
was there, no church service and no Holy Communion 
were held during his visit to the Holy Sepulchre ; there- 
fore Frederick was obliged to take the crown of Jerusalem 
off the altar, and put it upon his own head, a strange pro- 
ceeding for an excommunicated king. 

Soon after this his own faith is said to have given away. 
Suspicions even of his being a Mohammedan were shared 
by both sects. Toleration of Mohammedan worship was 
no doubt one of the conditions by which he obtained pos- 
session of the crown. It is certain that Frederick enter- 
tained no hatred to any man because of another belief. 
He liked the Saracens, for many of his best soldiers and 
a large number of his loyal friends had been of that gentle 
race ; and judging from the fruits of the two religions, that 
of the Saracens appeared in a more favorable light, espe- 
cially as the king was at that moment under the persecu- 
tion of the Christian Church ; all the Mohammedan cities 
also seemed to Frederick, in the arts and sciences, to be 
greatly superior to any in the Roman Empire. Although 
he had retaken Jerusalem with so much renown, he was 
the last to wear its crown. 

After his return, the diplomatic monarch reinstated 
Gregory IX., who had been driven from Rome by the 



146 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

friends of the Emperor ; whereupon, having the power of 
spiritual life and death, Gregory IX., according to a previ- 
ous agreement between them, immediately removed the 
ban. Although the truce was not permanent, it gave Fred- 
erick a few years of quiet in which to attend to work neces- 
sary for the good of his southern kingdom. During this 
time he abolished the feudal system in Southern Italy, and 
laid the foundation of a representative form of govern- 
ment. He established his court at Naples, and founded 
a University to which he invited scholars from all parts 
of his kingdom, one of the greatest of whom was Thomas 
Aquinas, who turned Aristotle's arguments into teachings 
of Christian truth. Some one has said that he founded 
the Italian language and literature ; while also Arabic, Pro- 
vencal, and German were cultivated, and their songs sung. 
The fine arts were encouraged, and the barbaric pastimes 
of former rulers were superseded by a more advanced 
civilization : but the only service Frederick ever rendered 
Germany was the fostering care he gave to German litera- 
ture ; for while he was developing his Italian possessions 
in the South, his German Empire was taking care of itself. 
This the German nobles liked ; for the boy Henry ruled 
for the most part through the bishops, dukes, and princes, 
whose will became the law of the land. 

But as long as the controversy between Church and 
State continued, there were always conflicts between Em- 
peror and Pope. Innocent III. had passed an edict that 
all heresy should be punished as a crime. In 1230 Greg- 
ory IX. wrote to Plenry commanding him to put this edict 
into execution, whereupon Henry appointed Conrad of 
Marburg, a monk. Inquisitor of Germany ; and for three 
years the latter tortured and burned at will. 

Conrad of Marburg was a brother in-law of Elizabeth, 
Countess of Thuringia, handed down as " Saint Elizabeth 



Frederick IT. 147 

of Hungary." Under the pretext of making a saint of 
her, Conrad for years inflicted upon her physical torture 
and sore trials of the soul. His horrible cruelty as an 
inquisitor at last provoked revenge. He was assassinated 
on the highway near Marburg; and his death put an end, 
for the time being, to the Inquisition in Germany. 

This was a period of great beauty in everything in Ger- 
many, — in poetry, in dress, in buildings, and in art. The 
Marburg Cathedral was built by this very same Conrad 
of Thuringia, who, having repented of his cruelty to 
Elizabeth the Saint, erected in her memory this most 
exquisite of German Cathedrals. 

Elizabeth had been married, when a child, to Ludwig, 
the brother of the cruel Conrad, under the sanction of her 
father, the King of Hungary. As a bride she had come 
to live at the Wartburg Castle ; and on account of her 
saintly character, Ludwig's mother and sisters hated as 
much as Ludwig loved her. They called her "gypsy" 
because she was dark, and "nun " because of her piety. 
They tried to influence her husband, and to make him 
dislike her on account of her pious and holy ways ; and 
once, when he was angry with her on account of her 
charities, the good saints, so the story runs, turned the 
bread in her basket into roses to shield her from his 
wrath. 

In the same Crusade which Frederick II. first under- 
took, Ludwig, the husband of Elizabeth, went to the Holy 
Land with Walter Von der Vogelweide and other noble 
knights. They met with great reverses, and in the heat 
at Otranto and Brindisi sickness visited the Crusaders. 
Ludwig, seeing white doves flying around his mast, felt 
it a sign of death ; and before the fleet turned back, as 
it was finally obliged to do on account of the pestilence, 
he died. When the news of Ludwig's death had come to 



148 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

Germany, Conrad, his brother, conniving with his sisters 
and mother, drove out Elizabeth with her five babes, and 
seized the government ; but the barons and knights 
restored her little son. Emperor Frederick II. wished to 
marry her ; but, refusing to listen to his messages, she 
went into a convent, where, on account of the hard disci- 
pline enforced, she died when only twenty-four years old. 

At a general Diet at Ravenna in 1232, Frederick II. 
met his son Henry, whom he had not seen since he was 
a little boy. Henry had been ruling over Germany dur- 
ing the whole time that Frederick had been engaged in 
the internal dissensions in Italy. On account of jeal- 
ousy, owing to the disparity in their ages, Frederick being 
only thirty-seven while Henry was twenty-one years old, 
the affection between them was lukewarm. Frederick 
refused to sanction Henry's measures, and a quarrel en- 
sued. Since there was little prospect of independence 
for Henry, his father still beings so young, he refused to 
comply with the latter's wishes, and rebelling, entered into 
an alliance with the cities of Lombardy, and sought the 
aid of the Pope for the purpose of maintaining arbitrary 
control. 

In 1235 Frederick returned to Germany after an ab- 
sence of fifteen years. In consequence of the weight of 
his extraordinary character, at his approach all revolts 
fell to pieces. His son Henry was obliged to surrender; 
and when it was found that he had been plotting to poison 
his father, he was banished to Southern Italy, where, after 
seven years spent in one prison after another, he died. 

lolanthe was dead, and that same summer Frederick 
contracted a third marriage with Isabel, sister of Henry 
II. of England. He sent over a splendid embassy to 
betroth her, and they were married in Worms. The fes- 
tivals held on this occasion are said to have been more 



Frederick II. 



149 



magnificent than Barbarossa's memorable Diet at May- 
ence. They were characterized by Oriental splendor, 
and all sorts of amusements were devised for the noble 
guests. There were costly trinkets and silver plate from 
the East, while the bride's gorgeous dresses were the 
envy of all. The elephants and camels amazed the Ger- 
mans ; and they were electrified by the music-boxes, shaped 
like skiffs, which commenced to play as soon as the boats 
were set in motion. All the attendants of the Empress 
were Saracens and all her appointments Oriental. 

Soon after this the decrees of a Diet held at Mayence 
were read for the first time in the German language. At 
this Diet, Frederick, at the head of the Waiblingers, be- 
came reconciled to Otto of Brunswick, the leader of the 
Welfs; thus the quarrels of a hundred years' standing 
came to an end in Germany, but in Italy the war of the 
"Guelfs and Ghibellines" continued for a long time. 

The Emperor now left Germany never to return. This 
sojourn among the German people was the only interrup- 
tion of an absence of thirty years. In 1236 Frederick's 
son Conrad was crowned King of Germany at a Diet at 
Vienna. 



1 50 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XVIL 

FREDERICK II. CONTINUED. CONRAD IV. 

INTERREGNUM. 

1840 — 1273 A. D. 

ON returning to Italy, Frederick II. had the same ex- 
perience with the independent cities that his father 
had undergone before his time. He also had trouble 
with Gregory IX., who coveted the Island of Sardinia for 
the Church ; but Frederick had already given it to his son 
Enzio, and the fiercest quarrels ensued; for it was always 
a practical question whether the Emperor should be sub- 
ject to the Pope, or the Pope to the Emperor, "whether 
the Vicar of Christ or the Imperator of Rome should be 
the Roman Pontiff. " 

Frederick of Hohenstaufen was a sceptic, and free 
from the superstitions of mediaeval times, almost a com- 
plete counterpart of his namesake Frederick of Prussia, 
who reigned five centuries later. Some have even said 
that he contemplated setting up a religion of his own, 
and that he attempted to make both the ecclesiastical 
and temporal power subject to him. The Pope published 
a proclamation declaring that the Emperor had said that 
Moses, Mohammed, and Christ were three impostors, 
and that he could set up a better religion than any of 
them. Frederick replied, " The Apostolic and Athanasian 
creeds are mine; Moses I consider a friend of God, and 
Mohammed an arch impostor." He called the Pope ''the 
second Balaam, the great dragon, yea, even the Antichrist." 



Frederick II. Continued. 151 

Gregory IX. summoned a council of the Church of 
Rome to consider the Emperor's conduct. Thereupon 
Frederick defied the bishops, priests, abbots, and cardi- 
nals, who had met at Niceea in 121 1, and thence had em- 
barked with a fleet of sixty vessels for Rome. Frederick 
caused them to be seized, his son Enzio intercepting a 
large number of clerical functionaries and four thousand 
men, who were carried to Naples, where many died of 
hunger. The council then had to be abandoned*, and 
immediately after Pope Gregory IX. died of chagrin at 
the age of one hundred. 

After two years of dissensions among the cardinals, 
Innocent IV. was elected Pope. He had been an inti- 
mate of the Emperor, who exclaimed, " I fear that I have 
lost a friend among the cardinals, and found an enemy in 
the chair of St. Peter's; no Pope can be Ghibelline. 
His words were too soon verified. Pope Innocent IV. 
called another council at Lyons ; and since he was now 
out of Frederick's reach and the bishops could come by 
land, having things his own way, he excommunicated the 
Emperor, who was the greatest monarch on the globe, 
bringing up his offences anew. When Frederick heard 
of it he said, "Has the Pope deposed me? Bring me 
my crowns, that I may see of what I am deposed." Seven 
crowns were brought him, — the royal crown of Germany, 
the imperial diadem of Rome, the iron circlet of Lom- 
bardy, the crowns of Sicily, Burgundy, Sardinia, and 
Jerusalem. He put them on his head, one after the other, 
and said, "I have them still, and none shall rob me of 
them without a hard battle." 

Frederick II. was now surrounded by many enemies, 
and he could not tell whom he could trust ; yet he never 
faltered, nor yielded any of his claims. 

In 1246, Conrad having taken to hard drinking and be- 



152 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

coming unpopular with the people, Henry Raspe, Land- 
grave of Thuringia, brother-in-law of Saint Elizabeth, 
claimed the crown of Germany; and the Pope supported 
him with all the wealth of the Church, A battle ensuing, 
Henry Raspe was wounded in the first encounter, his army 
defeated, and he died soon after, leaving Conrad still king. 

In Italy civil war raged with great bitterness, there 
being many barbarities on both sides. A plot was formed 
to assassinate Frederick ; when this failed, an attempt 
was made to poison him. Peter de Vinea, his chancellor 
and trusted friend for thirty years, was implicated. This 
is the way the incident occurred. A physician, recom- 
mended by the chancellor, having brought the Emperor 
a poisoned medicine, something in the culprit's manner 
excited suspicion, and Frederick ordered him to swallow 
a part of it. In pretending to drink it, he stumbled on 
purpose, and fell to the ground ; the rest of the potion was 
given to a condemned criminal, who immediately died. 
The physician was executed, and Peter de Vinea sent to 
prison, where, overcome by remorse and chagrin, he com- 
mitted suicide by dashing his head against the wall of 
his cell. 

Enzio, Frederick's beloved son, was taken by the Bo- 
lognese ; and all the father's offers of ransom being re- 
jected, he was condemned to imprisonment for life. For 
twenty-two years he lingered in the dungeon, where at 
last he died. When he was at first incarcerated, there 
was a plan made to release him, certain friends having 
contrived to take him from his dungeon in a large empty 
tun which had been used for wine. As they were going 
through the last gate of the prison-yard, by the turning of 
the barrel one of his golden curls was seen through the 
bung-hole. He was then returned to his cell, and there 
he spent the remainder of his life. 



Frederick II. Continued. 153 

In 1247 William of Holland had been set up by the 
Pope as a rival king in Germany ; but he failed to main- 
tain himself, and, after this, fortune began to smile upon 
Frederick. Lombardy and Piacenza espoused his cause ; 
and the Romans, being tired of Innocent IV., began to 
talk of electing another Pope. 

But just as the world in general was favoring Frede- 
rick's cause, he expired in the arms of his youngest son, 
Manfred, in December, 1250, at the age of fifty-six. When 
Innocent IV. heard that his old friend was dead, he said, 
"Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad." 
Frederick II. was buried at Palermo, where his tomb and 
that of his father Henry VI. furnish most interesting ob- 
jects to the sightseer of to-day. When the sarcophagus 
was opened in 1783, his body was still clothed in imperial 
robes, with the crown of the Roman Empire on his brow. 

Frederick II. is said to have been the most accom- 
plished ruler who ever wore a crown. One of the greatest 
men of his time, he was far the most brilliant of Germany's 
early Emperors. As a man of culture and learning, he 
was greatly in advance of his age ; as a monarch, he was 
despotic and violent, and would brook no competitors in 
authority, but where his sway was undisputed, he was wise 
and tolerant and not unjust. He spent a great part of his 
life in trying to crush the Republican Lombard cities, and 
in his struggle with the Pope he was as advanced in his 
ideas as the most earnest forerunners of the Reforma- 
tion. He has been styled by an eminent historian, " the 
gay, the brave, the wise, the relentless, and the godless 
Frederick." 

Pope Innocent hated Conrad IV., and gave all his sup- 
port to William of Holland, who gained a victory over 
Conrad at Oppenheim. The Pope also presented Sicily 
and Apulia to the second son of Henry HI. of England, 



154 Germany: Her People ajid Their Story. 

but Manfred gained them back for his brother Conrad. 
The latter tried to be reconciled to the Pope, but found 
him implacable. He was about to march against William 
of Holland, when he suddenly died, in 1254, at twenty- 
seven years of age. It was thought that he w"as poisoned. 
Conrad was the Emperor who put a bit in the mouth of 
the bronze horse in Naples, which stood on a high pedes- 
tal in the market-place, thus making it a symbol of the 
conquered city. 

The most noted act of William of Holland's life was 
the laying, in 1248, of the first stone of the Cologne 
Cathedral, which was not completed until about 1884. 
He was called the " Priests' King," and was so unpopular 
that the men of Cologne set fire to his house. When he 
claimed a recognition of his sovereignty, his own vas- 
sals, the farmers of Friesland, rose against him. It was 
winter; and when trying to cross on the ice to put down 
the insurrection, his heavy war-horse broke through, and 
the peasants surrounded and precipitated him into the 
water, where he was left to drown. Innocent IV. had 
expended four hundred thousand marks in supporting 
William of Holland and Henry T^aspe against the Ho- 
henstaufen. 

Conrad IV. had a little son named Conrad; but to dis- 
tinguish him from his father, the Italians called him 
Conradino (little Conrad), and in German history he is 
known as Conradin. He was educated by his mother, 
Queen Elizabeth, and by his uncle, Ludwig II., Duke of 
Bavaria. 

When Conraom was ten years old, the Archbishop of 
Mainz called a Diet for the purpose of crowning the young 
prince King of Germany ; but the ceremony was prevented 
by the Pope. Conradin was such a fine scholar, and 
showed so much fondness for literature and art, that the 



Conrad II. 155 

followers of the Hohenstaufen thought he was going to be 
like his grandfather, Frederick 11. Manfred, his uncle, 
still governed Naples and Sicily, and after defeating the 
Papal power, was crowned king. Manfred ruled glori- 
ously, and was in reality the last King of Italy. His 
coronation so overcame Innocent IV. that he died soon 
after. Urban IV., his successor, offered the crown of 
Southern Italy to Charles of Anjou, "that awkward, ugly, 
savage, cruel, ignorant, and bigoted " French prince, a 
complete contrast to Manfred, who was refined and manly, 
a scholar and poet, a practical man of business, and a 
magnanimous ruler. In a bloody battle between them in 
1266 at Benevento, Manfred was slain; and his body was 
taken from the chapel where it had been buried, and 
thrown into a trench. Charles of Anjou imprisoned the 
wife and children of Manfred for life. 

Little Conradin had now grown into a youth of sixteen ; 
and the Italians, who hated the tyranny of Charles of An- 
jou, invited the boy to come to Sicily and take the crown. 
Thereupon Conradin determined to avenge his uncle Man- 
fred's death, and pledged his united estates in Swabia for 
means to cross the Alps and recover his inheritance. 
His mother sought to dissuade him; but his uncle Lud- 
wig of Bavaria offered to support him, and Frederick of 
Austria, a youth of nineteen years, insisted on sharing 
his fortunes. In 1267 Conradin crossed the Alps with 
ten thousand Swabian and Bavarian troops. He had to 
wait three months for further supplies, and during this 
time two-thirds of his men went back ; but a revolution 
against the Church party set in while he was at Pisa, and 
the Romans declared in his favor. A revolt against the 
cruel Charles of Anjou broke out in Naples and Sicily; 
and when Conradin entered Rome in July, 1268, his suc- 
cess seemed certain. He was victorious at first, it is 



156 Germany: Her People ajid TJieir Story. 

said, in a battle fought Aug. 22 ; but his camp was again 
attacked, and his army completely routed on account of 
his troops stopping to plunder the enemy. 

Conradin and his friend Frederick of Austria fled to 
Rome and thence to a little port of Asturia to embark for 
Sicily; but they were arrested by John of Frangipanni, the 
governor, who, although he had been especially favored 
by Frederick II., now used his influence against the 
grandson of the latter, and in favor of Charles of Anjou. 
Conradin was carried to Naples, where the members of a 
court of distinguished jurists were called to try him for 
high treason. All acquitted him with one exception; nev- 
ertheless, Charles of Anjou ordered him to be executed. 
The news was brought to the two friends while they were 
playing a game of chess, and they were told that they 
must die. A scafl^old was erected before a church, on 
the shore of the lovely Bay of Naples; and Charles of 
Anjou delighted his soul by sitting at the window to see 
the execution of these ingenuous youths. After the read- 
ing of the sentence, Conradin spoke a few words in his 
own justification, and threw down his glove among the 
people as a declaration of his innocence. He thought of 
his mother in her beautiful castle among the mountains 
of Bavaria; and when he had mounted the scaffold, he 
exclaimed, " O my mother ! How grieved thou wilt be to 
learn thy son's sad fate ! " Thus the last heir to the Hohen- 
staufen throne passed away, while the rest of the family 
lingered the remainder of their lives in the Sicilian 
dungeons. Frederick of Austria, the friend of Conradin, 
with thirteen others, was afterward led to the scaffold. 

Since the time when a ruffian had rushed out on the 
ramparts of Rome, and proclaimed that the throne of the 
Caesars would be sold to the highest bidder, there had 
been nothing so ridiculous as the state of affairs in Ger- 



Interregnum. 157 

many when the Hohenstaufen line became extinct, and 
William of Holland had just been murdered by the 
Dutch peasants. The crown of the great Holy Roman 
Empire of the Germans had fallen into such discredit 
that it was put up at auction. Public opinion had be- 
come so debased by the quarrels between Church and 
State that men could not see why the government of the 
nation should not be disposed of like any commodity. 

Two bidders appeared upon the scene, — Richard of 
Cornwall, brother of Henry IH. of England, and King 
Alphonso of Castile, surnamed the Wise. Both were 
successful. Three electors, the Archbishops of Cologne 
and Mayence, and the Duke of Bavaria, sold their votes 
for forty thousand marks to Richard of Cornwall, while 
Alphonso of Castile bought the Kingdom of Bohemia, 
the Dukedoms of Saxony, and the Mark of Brandenburg 
for sixty thousand marks. In the case of Alphonso the 
sale was merely nominal, as he never even visited the 
realm. Richard of Cornwall was crowned at Aix-la- 
Chapelle, and came over four times for short visits, lav- 
ishly distributing his large revenues for the enthusiastic 
receptions which his followers continued to give him 
while his money held out. But he knew that it was use- 
less trying to govern the kingdom, because he understood 
that the nobles had only given him the title in order that 
their self-government might be more complete. 

This period was named by the people afterwards " the 
Evil Time when there was no Emperor ; " and in spite of 
the two kings who had paid for their titles, it was called 
the "Interregnum"; and it was indeed "a time between 
governments," a period of change and confusion, when 
each prince desired to be an independent ruler, and the 
knights, formerly a type of chivalry, became mere high- 
waymen, so that merchants could not travel unarmed. 



158 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

Their goods, packed in wagons and on horses' backs, 
were carried in large caravans, accompanied by a squad 
of hired servants acting as a military guard. 

From the time of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, the char- 
acter of the old Roman German Empire was radical!)^ 
changed. The Italian republican cities were now inde- 
pendent; and the various dukedoms, bishoprics, and prin- 
cipalities were becoming difficult to unite. 

The Empire which Charlemagne had planned out, which 
Otto the Great had nearly established, and which Barba- 
rossa might have founded but for his dream of a world- 
wide sovereignty, had become impossible. It was a thing 
of the past. From this time and ever after, until it began 
to consolidate preparatory to its present form of govern- 
ment, it was simply a confederation of states, which for 
convenience still kept up the name and form of an 
Empire. 

Henry II., on account of needing all available help 
against the Pope, had confirmed the dukes and bishops 
in Germany in their rights by what was called a Prag- 
matic Sanction. In this way the power of the Emperor 
of Germany had been lessened, and the princes had 
grown so independent that they dispensed with the help 
of the common nobles in the choice of their ruler. At 
the time of the beginning of the Interregnum there were 
seven Electors, called Kurfiirstcii (great prince), who 
elected the Emperor. Three of these were the Arch- 
bishops of Mayence, of Cologne, and of Trier; the other 
four were the Dukes of Bavaria and of Saxony, the Pfalz- 
graf of the Rhine, and the King of Bohemia. In the 
Diet these sat apart as a separate house. 

It has been frequently mentioned that the cities founded 
by Henry the Fowler had grown very strong, and now 
governed themselves independently of the nobles, being 



Interregnum. 1 59 

subject to the Emperor alone. They held their own coun- 
cils, and fortified themselves by training their own men 
in arms. Years before, when it began to be apparent 
that a state of anarchy was impending, these towns saw 
that some remedy must be applied, and formed leagues 
which came to be like a government within a government. 
One of these was the Rhenish Confederation, founded by 
Mayence and Worms. It included sixty of the cities, 
amongst them Cologne, Strasburg, Basle, Nuremberg, Er- 
furt, Bremen, and many others. The largest of these con- 
federations was formed before the Interregnum, and was 
called "The Hanseatic League," from Hanse, meaning 
union. This was the largest of all the leagues, and in- 
cluded the Baltic cities, Lubec, and some towns in Flan- 
ders. It had control of the manufactures of Germany, 
as well as her agriculture, fisheries, and mines. 

The cities at this period were walled ; and to economize 
space, the streets were left narrow and dark, while the 
great market-places, with buildings of fine architectural 
design, covered each side of these fine squares. Owing 
partly to the spirit engendered by the Crusades, and not- 
withstanding the dogmatism of the clergy and the troub- 
lous times, education was passing from the monasteries to 
the people, and vmiversities were fast springing up. The 
Hohenstaufen had done a great work in developing art, 
learning, and literature, taking up the undertaking com- 
menced by Charlemagne, which for four centuries had 
been neglected. Frederick II. and his sons had brought 
out the higher forms of Roman culture and civilization, 
which then attained a level, never again even approxi- 
mately reached during the next three hundred years. 

In the thirteenth century a new literature was created 
by such poets as Walter of the Vogelweide ; Godfrey of 
Strasburg, who wrote of King Arthur's Round Table ; and 



i6o Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

Wolfram of Eschenbach, who celebrated the search for the 
Holy Grail. Finally these writings were followed by the 
Nibelungen Lied. The latter was written in the Swabian 
dialect, commonly called Mediaeval High German. 

At last, however, the spirit of lost liberties began to 
revive among the common people ; and after an interreg- 
num of twenty-three years, even the princes desired a 
ruler who could suppress and punish the outrages en- 
gendered by the all-pervading anarchy. Therefore, after 
Richard of Cornwall died, in 1272, there was a general 
demand for a strong government. 



Rudolf of Hapsbiirg. i6i 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

RUDOLF OF HAPSBURG. — ADOLF OF NASSAU. 
1278—1398 A.D. 

ACTING on the suggestion of Pope Gregory X., the 
±\. Electors of Germany, in 1273, chose Count Rudolf 
of Hapsburg as their Emperor. He was a native of that 
part of Germany, now Switzerland, where the ruins of the 
old family castle is one of the most celebrated ancient 
landmarks to be seen at the present time. His election 
was confirmed in the great Cathedral at Frankfort, where 
the nobles assembled to pay him their respects. 

When the assembly met, however, it was found that 
the royal insignia, the sceptre and sword of Charlemagne, 
had not been brought thither; but Rudolf, always fer- 
tile in resources, seized a cross in the Cathedral, saying, 
"This sign, by which the whole world has been redeemed, 
I may well use instead of a sceptre." 

His coronation at Aix-la-Chapelle was hailed with 
delight by all the nobles except Ottocar of Bohemia, a 
powerful ruler of Slavonic descent, who himself aspired 
to wear the crown, and refused to recognize the " Poor 
Count" who had fought under him in his wars with the 
Magyars. 

Rudolf's foreign policy was at first in complete con- 
trast to that of the Emperors of Germany who had pre- 
ceded him. His dominion reached from the Baltic to 
the Adriatic, and included all the duchies which now 
comprise Austria and a portion of Hungary; but fulfill- 



1 62 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

ing the promises to the Pope, which had been broken 
by the Hohenstaufen, he entirely rejected any part in the 
government of Italy. He had been a zealous partisan 
of Frederick II., and had shared his excommunication. 
Although his own family was insignificant, his brother-in- 
law was Count Frederick of Hohenzollern, the Burgrave 
of Nuremberg, and founder of the House of Hohenzollern, 
which a century after united with that of Brandenburg. 
The Burgrave was a strong advocate of Rudolf's elec- 
tion, and assisted him by his influence throughout his 
reign. 

Rudolf adopted his Italian policy because he required 
all the resources he had at command, both to quell the 
disorders in his own realm, and to put down the high- 
handed robbery among the barons which the state of 
anarchy in the Interregnum had fostered. His ambition 
was to establish the greatness of the House of Hapsburg, 
and to avoid weakening the government by wars in Italy, 
the deplorable effects of which had been so apparent in 
earlier times. He determined to be at peace with the 
clergy, who, having become tired of the hydra-headed 
oligarchy with which they had contended for so many 
years, were glad of any compromise. In reference to 
the troubles with the Church, he said, " I see the foot- 
steps of many who went into the lion's den, but of none 
who came out of it." 

By his concessions to the Pope, Rudolf was enabled 
to meet all the dangers which threatened him in the early 
part of his reign; and in return for these benefits. Pope 
Gregory X. promised to crown him Roman Emperor, 
appointing a day for his coronation ; but Rudolf was 
always busy promoting the prosperity of his kingdom, 
and, like Henry the Fowler, he never found time to go to 
Rome. 



Rudolf of Hapsbitrg. 163 

When Rudolf held his first Diet at Augsburg, ambas- 
sadors from the King of Bohemia brought a belligerent 
protest against the election of what Ottocar termed a 
"petty nobleman " to rule over such an Empire of world- 
wide fame. The messenger would have been cut down 
by one blow from the scimitar of some member of the 
Diet, had not Rudolf himself interposed. The ban of 
the Church was no longer hurled against the reigning 
monarch of Germany, but against the obstreperous King 
of Bohemia; and the poor, proud Ottocar, deserted by his 
allies, was obliged to make a most humiliating peace, by 
the means of which Bohemia lost, and the German Em- 
peror gained, the most of the Austrian dominions. 

When Ottocar came before Rudolf to make peace, he 
was arrayed in complete armor, with jewels and gold 
ornaments; while Rudolf, according to his custom, was 
clad in his simple gray suit, which Ottocar had despised 
and always held in derision. Rudolf said, "The King of 
Bohemia has often mocked at my gray coat, and now my 
gray coat shall mock at him." Although Rudolf received 
the King of Bohemia with courtesy, he made him pass 
between rows of mailed warriors, in order to inspire him 
with respect for Germany's military power. At the time, 
Ottocar received this rebuke for his vain-glorying with as 
much complacency as he could command ; but when he 
went home he found his wife overpowered with indigna- 
tion on hearing of the truce he had made and the treat- 
ment he had received. She told Ottocar if she had been 
a man she would have swept down upon Rudolf like an 
eagle, and made him a prisoner. Smarting under the 
derision which he suffered in his family, it was no won- 
der that peace was only maintained for a short time. 

Soon after this, there was a bloody battle fought, al- 
though Rudolf was poorly prepared for war, there being 



164 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

only five shillings of good money in the treasury, and no 
standing army. Each side contended with great despe- 
ration, the horses being killed under both rulers ; but the 
tide finally turned in favor of Rudolf's forces, and Otto- 
car was slain. 

Rudolf had once said that with four thousand Ger- 
man knights and forty thousand infantry he could march 
through the world; and at this time he might have en- 
tered Italy, burning down the Lombard cities, and sub- 
jecting everything on the other side of the Alps to his 
will; but he held to his promise to Gregory X., although 
there was now a new Pope, and kept clear of the phantom 
of universal sovereignty. Notwithstanding he was al- 
ways called Emperor, he never received the Roman crown. 

After spending five years in Austria and in the prov- 
inces he had rescued from Ottocar, he returned to Swit- 
zerland to settle all differences there, as well as in Swabia 
and Burgundy, and to enforce the laws. He attacked the 
robber knights in the strongholds of Thuringia, and razed 
their castles to the ground. We have seen how these 
nobles lived, perched on rocks, subsisting by plunder 
and robbery. If there were disagreements among the 
chiefs, they sent letters to one another recapitulating the 
wrongs they had received, each challenging the other and 
all his kindred; after this, each respectively was free to 
do the other all the wrong which he desired. It is said 
that this was the only incentive that the nobles had, at 
this time, for learning to write, — that they might sign 
these letters, which were called "'feud-briefs." Rudolf 
slew many of these very knights, twenty-nine being exe- 
cuted in one year. He found that during the Interregnum 
the nobles had lost their nobility, and had been falling 
into vices which were making Germany lag behind all 
the other nations in everything which elevated the race. 



Rudolf of Hapsburg. 165 

Drunkenness was very prevalent, and the culture and 
learning which were fostered by the Saxons and Holien- 
staufen were passing away. 

When any one of the nobles petitioned for an ameliora- 
tion of his punishment, and when about to be put to death 
asked that he might die in a less ignominious manner, 
Rudolf replied, "He is no nobleman; the true noble- 
man honors virtue, loves justice, injures no one, robs no 
one, practises honor, and defends the helpless." 

Although Rudolf's plan all his life had been to ren- 
der the House of Hapsburg supreme in Germany, he died 
in 1291 without making the crown hereditary in his fam- 
ily as he had desired. When he ascended the throne, in 
1273, he was fifty-five years old, and at his death was 
seventy-three. He was tall, slender, and pale, very un- 
pretending and temperate. There is a legend that he 
used to mend his own clothes. At one time when one of 
his chief officers was trying to keep back some peasants 
from coming into his presence, he said, " I was not made 
king to be shut out from mankind." He was a cheerful, 
humorous man, turning many wearisome circumstances 
into a jest. He was often seen camping out with his 
soldiers, sharing their simple fare, frequently refusing to 
partake of food and water while they were unsupplied. 
When his dependents complained of the poor fare, he 
would take a turnip growing in the field, pare it like an 
apple, and eat it raw, to show them how simple were the 
real wants of life. He dismissed some knights from his 
service because he heard them grumbling at the poor 
rye bread and sour wine which at that very time he was 
sharing with them. 

His going about dressed like any of his subjects gave 
rise to many amusing incidents. Clad in his gray home- 
spun cloak, he once stopped to warm himself before a 



1 66 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

baker's fire. He was mistaken by the baker-woman for 
an idler who might pilfer her bread, and he heartily en- 
joyed the mistake of the scolding housewife. She began 
to abuse the Emperor, saying that all the bakers in town 
were ruined by him, and to get rid of him she threw a 
pail of water into the fire to smoke him out. When he 
sat down to his own dinner, he sent the baker's wife a 
boar's head and a bottle of wine as a present from the 
old soldier who had warmed himself at her fire. This 
made the woman so ashamed that she came before him 
crying for forgiveness, and it was granted on condition 
that she tell the whole company all she had said and how 
she had treated him. 

Although the knightly splendor of the Hohenstaufen 
was wanting in Rudolf's reign, he had a cordiality which 
made him more popular and efficient as a ruler than any 
of them. There was an old saying, " He was the best 
warrior of his day; he was the truest man that ever held 
the office of judge." He is one of the Emperors who 
still live in the story of Germany as the German ideal. 
In his courage and simplicity of living, and in his stern- 
ness and decision, as well as in his firmness and integrity, 
he calls to mind to Americans our President Andrew 
Jackson. 

After the long disturbances resulting from the Inter- 
regnum, he founded for the third time the Empire which 
was well nigh rent asunder. He also laid the founda- 
tion of the House of Hapsburg. Out of his large family 
of three sons and seven daughters, his only remaining 
son was Albert, chosen King of the Romans in his life- 
time; but he was not confirmed by the promised Diet, 
for Rudolf died on July 15, before that Assembly met. 

Under the pretence that it would be unsafe to preserve 
the royal power in one family, Gerard of Eppenstein, the 



Adolf of Nassau. 167 

Archbishop of Mayence, gained over the Electors, and 
gave the vote to his kinsman, Adolf of Nassau, who 
was a poorer count than Rudolf had been, and who 
lacked every one of his virtues. 

To secure his own election, Adolf of Nassau had dis- 
posed of many imperial rights; and in order to restore 
these he was obliged to confiscate the land of various 
princes, devastating their territory. Thus exciting the 
hostility of the nobles, he brought about his own speedy 
fall; and they resolved to depose him in favor of Albert, 
Rudolf of Hapsburg's son; the latter accordingly was 
elected at Mayence in 1298. 



l68 Germany: Her People and Their Story, 



CHAPTER XIX. 

ALBERT OF HAPSBUKG. REVOLT OF SWLSS CANTONS. 

1298 - 1308 A.D. 

A LBERT led an army against Adolf of Nassau with- 
±\. in ten days of his election, meeting him at GoU- 
hcim near Dennersburg. Adolf fought heroically; and 
when he knew that Albert was in person among the 
troops, he called him out for single combat, saying, 
"Here you must yield the Empire to me," at the same 
time drawing his sword. But Albert replied, " That rests 
with God ; "' and he struck Adolph dead. 

After this conquest, for fear that the precedent of 
choosing a rival monarch before the death of a king 
might lead to future trouble, it was decided that Albert 
should be again elected before being crowned. 

Albert of Hapsburg was a hard, cold man, his single 
aim in life being the aggrandizement of imperial power 
in his own house. "Hard as a diamond was his heart," 
was sung by the bards of 7\ustria as descriptive of his 
character. 

The familiar historical episode of Gessler and William 
Tell, and the League of Riitli, took place in Albert's reign. 
Gessler was a governor Albert had placed over the Swiss 
cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden. He was a 
tyrant, and under Albert's direction attempted to make 
the mountaineers of Switzerland subject to the dukedom 
of Austria. The final outbreak was occasioned by Gess- 
ler's setting up his hat in the market-place at Altdorf, 



Revolt of Siuiss Cantons. 169 

insisting tliat the peasants should bow down and make 
obeisance to it. 

Before this time the spirit of Swiss liberty had been 
aroused; and on a day in November three men, Walter 
Fiirst of U ri, Werner Stauffacher of Schwyz, and Arnold 
von Melchthal of Unterwalden, met at night at Riitli, and 
laid the foundation of the Swiss Republic. They swore 
that they would rouse Switzerland to arms against Gessler, 
each gaining as many confederations as he could. In the 
same spot where they took the sacred oath which made 
Switzerland free, three little streams, so the legend runs, 
gushed out of the mountain-side, and three such rivulets 
may be seen near Riitli to-day. It is said the streamlets 
broke forth, rushing down the mountain-side, at daybreak 
the morning following the night when these three men 
joined hands in sacred conclave declaring that Switzer- 
land should henceforth be free. A few yards from this 
spot, on the opposite side, stands "TelTs Chapel." The 
story is this : — 

William Tell was the best marksman of Uri. One 
day, as he was passing through the streets of Altdorf 
leading his little boy by the hand, he saw the hat which 
Gessler had placed there, but went unheeding by. There 
was a sentinel standing near, who, after vainly attempt- 
ing to force him to do homage to the hat, at the command 
of Gessler seized Tell, and told him that having tied his 
son to a neighboring tree, he must hit an apple placed as 
a target upon the boy's head. " Point the arrow at it 
well," he said; "for if thou shouldst not hit it, thy boy's 
life would be the forfeit." The little fellow, hearing all 
the talk, exclaimed, " I am not afraid of your arrow, 
father ; I shall not stir nor move even a finger of my 
hand. You never miss your mark, father, only do not let 
them tie me to the tree. I will not wince a bit, father, 



I/O Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

not I ; so take courage and shoot. " The strong man 
trembled, but finding Gessler unmoved in his purpose, 
prayed to God to show him mercy, since at the hand of 
man no mercy was vouchsafed. Then, taking two arrows, 
he put one in his crossbow and hid the other in his 
bosom. 

The sequel of the story is familiar to all. When Tell 
had accomplished the almost superhuman feat, Gessler, 
seeing the other arrow fall, asked him for what he had 
intended it. This drew from Tell the rash reply, "To 
kill thee, tyrant, had I slain my boy." On account of 
this answer Tell was bound and placed flat in a boat 
until a storm came up; then Gessler, being alarmed, re- 
leased him, and commanded him to guide the boat safely 
to land. It was at the point where this happened that 
"Tell's Chapel " is now seen; and just opposite, on the 
other side of the lake, there is a huge bowlder called the 
" Schiller Rock," in memory of the great German poet 
who memorialized Tell's deeds. Tell, having been un- 
bound, steered the boat to land and jumped ashore, at 
the same time pushing the frail bark, which still con- 
tained Gessler, out into the eddying waters, leaving it to 
the mercy of the waves. He himself, climbing up one of 
the numerous mountains surrounding the lake, descended 
on the other side. In the meantime the boat was driven 
ashore by the wind, and stranded on the spot where 
another chapel, on the Arth Goldau side, now stands. 
Here Tell met Gessler and, as he landed, slew him un- 
perceived, with the same arrow that he had at first hidden 
in his bosom. 

But the whole story, which has so long been an histori- 
cal romance to the Swiss, is now spoiled by literary van- 
dals, who say that the account is simply a legend like 
that of Siegfried and the dragon's blood, and that Tell 



Revolt of Swiss Cantotts. 171 

himself is only a myth. Critics assert that the story 
existed two hundred years before Tell's time, and is 
handed down in different forms, attributed to different 
people. Norway, Denmark, Holstein, and Iceland had 
each such a story, the apple sometimes being a nut 
and sometimes a coin. But, on the other hand, reliable 
writers relate that in 1388, eighty years after the death 
of Albert of Hapsburg, one hundred and fourteen men 
made a formal declaration before the common council 
of Uri that they had been personally acquainted with 
Tell. 

After slaying Gessler, Tell stirred up his comrades, who 
surprised several castles, tearing down Gessler's palace, 
Zwing Uri; and on Jan. 6, 1308, raised the banner of 
the Swiss Confederation, which has never since been 
furled. 

In May, 1308, Albert of Hapsburg was in Baden rais- 
ing troops for a new campaign against the Swiss ; as he 
was crossing the river his nephew John and four men, 
who had purposely left the rest of the retinue on the 
other side, fell upon Albert and murdered him, the Em- 
peror dying in the arms of a peasant woman who hap- 
pened to be at hand when they landed, and who lifted his 
head upon her lap. The Empress had all the relations of 
the families, who had been engaged in the plot, executed, 
to the number of one thousand persons, because all the 
assassins themselves, excepting one, had escaped ; this 
one afterwards met death by being broken on a wheel. 
John himself was a wanderer for many years, but at last 
received absolution, and died in a convent. 

Albert is said to have had some redeeming qualities. 
He tried to ameliorate the condition of the serfs, and 
often, when it did not interfere with his personal in- 
terests, manifested a sense of justice. He was a great 



1/2 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

help to the Rhine cities, forcing the bishops to lower 
their heavy tolls; but the bishops were so disaffected 
by this that Archbishop Gerard told Albert to look out, 
as he had other kings in his pocket, and needed only 
to blow his horn to call up as many Emperors as he 
pleased. 



House of Liixeinbiirg. 173 



CHAPTER XX. 



HOUSE OF LUXEMBURG. 



Henry VII. Louis V. of Bavaria (Wittelsbach). 

GuNTHER. Charles IV. 



1308—1378 A.D. 



PHILIP the Fair of France wanted the throne of Ger- 
many for his brother Charles of Valois, but the 
German Electors were only agreed as to who should not 
be elected. They would have no prince of a powerful fam- 
ily, while among the inferior nobles there were few who 
were acceptable to the nation. At last, however, Nov. 27, 
1308, under a walnut-tree on the Konigsstuhl at Rense, 
Count Henry of Luxemburg was chosen Emperor. 

On this spot the blast of a hunting-horn was audible 
in the dominion of four out of the seven electors. Count 
Henry was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 6th of 
January, 1309, as Henry VII. Although his election was 
a great surprise to himself, he ruled with wisdom, and 
meted out justice to all. 

As a preliminary act, Henry VII. removed the body of 
Adolph of Nassau, which Albert, out of malice, had 
placed in a convent, to the Cathedral of Speyer, where it 
had now become a conventional right to bury all kings. 
It was to this spot that Rudolf of Hapsburg had turned 
when the physicians told him he was about to die. He 
said , " Take me to .Speyer, where my great ancestors 
lie buried." As a consequence, Albert of Hapsburg lay 



1/4 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

beside his fierce enemy, Adolph of Nassau, in the very 
burial-place the former previously denied him. 

Henry of Luxemburg sought to be Emperor in the 
ancient sense of the word, and to stand above all party 
considerations. The four sons of Albert came to Henry, 
asking for the hereditary domain of their father. He in 
turn advised them not to meddle with Austria, as it had 
been already fatal to five kings ; but when they admon- 
ished him not to be the sixth, he gave it up to them, either 
through a superstitious fear or out of regard to justice. 

Henry of Carinthia had become King of the Bohemians 
after the death of Albert's son Rudolf ; he had proved 
to be a tyrant, and the people of Bohemia hated him, 
he having imprisoned Elizabeth, the youngest sister of 
Wenze HI., in a castle; but the princes had rescued her, 
and now offered her in marriage to John, son of Henry 
VII., with the idea of making John himself King of Bohe- 
mia. Prince John was a graceful and gentle prince, only 
fourteen years old, while his bride was twenty-two, rough 
and uncultivated ; and as he was never happy with her 
after his father had Iriven out Henry of Carinthia from 
her domain, he left her much of the time to rule in her 
own right, '.vhile he joined any warlike expedition that 
came in his way. 

Although justice was the distinguishing feature of 
Henry VI I. 's reign, he pursued a treacherous course to- 
wards the archbishops with regard to the tolls on the 
Rhine. He also pacified the princes by bestowing on 
them many worn-out privileges of the crown ; and in 13 12, 
assisted by the Colonna family, he went to Rome and 
was crowned. While the service of coronation was going 
on in St. John in Lateran, Henry's enemies, occupying 
the Vatican, shot into the church arrows, which fell on 
the altar. 



House of Luxemburg. 175 

Having driven out Robert of Naples, the Pope excom- 
municated Henry VH. Before the ban reached him, how- 
ever, Henry died, in 13x3, in a monastery at Siena, hav- 
ing been poisoned by a Dominican monk in the sacra- 
mental cup, from which he was partaking as a part of the 
consecrating service in honor of his coronation. When 
Henry discovered wliat had been done, he said, " In the 
cup of life thou hast offered me death ; fly before my peo- 
ple can take thee." He had fought bravely and ruled 
wisely for five years. 

His death was lamented both in Germany and Italy, 
since much had been expected from his noble qualities 
and breadth of character. He lived in Dante's time, and 
the Divine poet is said to have hailed him as the saviour 
of Italy. History makes record of few purer or nobler 
rulers than he, it being affirmed that even his enemies 
found no blot on his character. 

The Austrian House of Hapsburg still regarded itself 
as having the first claim to the German throne, while the 
House of Luxemburg, which Henry VII. had founded, 
had equal pretensions; but since King John of Bohemia, 
Henry's son, was now only seventeen years old, the Lux- 
emburg party could hardly hope to set him upon the 
throne. Therefore they turned their attention to the 
Ducal House of Bavaria, which had originated with Otto 
of Wittelsbach. The ofiice of Count Palatine connected 
with this house had been founded before by Frederick 
II. for the dukes of Franconia; and it had been given 
to his own son Rudolf by Louis the Severe, Frederick 
II. 's grandson, who had married the daughter of Rudolf 
of Hapsburg, while Bavaria was left to Louis, another 
son. The two brothers were now enemies. 

When the Electors came together at Frankfort in 13 14, 
four of them chose this same Louis of Bavaria, who has- 



1/6 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

tened to Aix-la-Chapelle and was crowned, the minority 
of the electoral board, however, declaring in favor of 
Frederick the Fair of Austria, son of Albert of Haps- 
burg, as Emperor. The two men were both grandsons of 
Rudolf of Hapsburg, and up to this time they had been 
bosom friends; but as a result of the election of the 
two young men there was a civil war, which lasted eight 
years without a decisive battle. The combination favor- 
ing Frederick consisted of Austria, Hungary, the Palati- 
nate of the Rhine, the Archbishopric of Cologne, and 
Louis' brother Rudolf. On the side of Louis were Bava- 
ria, Bohemia, Thuringia, the free cities, and the people. 

Louis confirmed the freedom of the Swiss cantons, 
which Henry VIL had maintained, as one of his first 
acts; but Leopold, the brother of Frederick of Austria, 
on trying to subjugate them, suffered an overwhelming 
defeat at Morgarten, in 13 15. The Austrian force was 
nine thousand, while the brave Swiss only numbered 
thirteen hundred. The Swiss lost only fifteen men; but 
there were fifteen hundred of the Austrians slain, besides 
six hundred and forty knights. Although the Swiss were 
often afterwards disturbed by the Austrians, from that 
day their freedom was secured. 

Pope John XXIL,who ruled at Avignon, declared that 
he alone could decide between the rival kings, and he 
did all in his power to assist Frederick; but the question 
was finally settled by a decisive battle at Miildorf, where 
Frederick, a fine-looking man, presented himself in a 
gilt armor; on the other hand, to avoid attention, Louis 
of Bavaria was wise enough to appear in a common suit of 
mail, and to fight in the ranks. Seifur of Schwepperman 
and Frederick IV. of Hohenzollern turned the tide of 
battle in favor of Louis, who thought at one time that he 
was beaten by Frederick the Fair, who fought heroically; 



House of Luxemburg. 177 

the latter, however, mistaking the troops of Louis under 
Schwepperman for those coming to his own aid, on ac- 
count of their plain appearance, was surrounded and 
taken prisoner with four hundred knights. His brother 
Leopold had failed to come up with the re-enforcements, 
and this was the occasion of his defeat. This battle was 
the Waterloo of those days. At the close of the contest, 
Louis saluted Frederick with these words: "We are glad 
to see you, cousin ; " nevertheless, he shut him up in the 
strong castle of Trausnitz for four years. 

Louis was so pleased with old General Schwepperman 
that he kept him through everything at his right hand. 
At one of their meals there was nothing to eat but a dish 
of eggs. In counting them Louis said, "One apiece, 
and one over ; no, none over, for Schwepperman has done 
the most work, and deserves double share." " If I sleep 
in my camp to-night it is owing to Schwepperman," 
The words last quoted were graven on Schwepperman's 
tomb, and an egg blazoned on the family shield. 

During the captivity of Frederick of Austria his beau- 
tiful blond hair turned gray, and his wife, the daughter 
of the King of Aragon, wept herself blind. In the mean- 
time Leopold was growing feeble in health, pining be- 
cause in the battle of Miildorf he had not come up in 
time ; but he kept on fighting for his brother, and by 
promising the crown of Germany obtained the aid of the 
King of France. 

Louis was now in great straits, for he had provoked 
the anger of Pope John XXII. by sending aid to the 
Ghibellines in Italy. The Pope declared in favor of the 
King of France, and laid the ban not only upon Louis 
himself, but had it include all Germany. 

This ban, or " Interdict " as it was called, had formerly 
been a measure which created great dismay among the 



178 Gcnnany : Her People and TJicir Story. 

people, for it prohibited all priestly offices in the land. 
The churches then were closed, the bells were silent, no 
honors were paid to the dead, and it even ordered that 
marriages should take place nowhere but in the grave- 
yards. But the day of the Reformation was drawing 
nearer, and the whole tone of Germany had changed, so 
that the priests, who heeded the ban at first, were com- 
pelled to go on with their religious duties or leave the 
country. Therefore the Franciscan monks fled to Louis 
for support against the Pope, while he himself was so 
much in trouble with the latter that he resorted to Fred- 
erick of Austria, against whom he had never felt any 
personal enmity, since he had been the dear friend of his 
youth. He induced him to intercede with Leopold his 
brother, who was still plotting with the King of France, 
aided by the Pope. Not succeeding in gaining over 
Leopold, Frederick gave himself up again to Louis, 
who treated him magnanimously, sharing with him his 
table and home. He found him mourning in solitude 
at Trausnitz, and said, " I have come to set thee free. 
Let us share one crown, as when lads we used to share 
one table and one bed." The Pope did not like any 
union that signified strength, and therefore tried to dis- 
solve the treaty; but they arranged that Frederick should 
reign in Germany, and Louis should be King of the 
Romans. Accordingly Louis, in 1327, went to Italy, and 
in 1328 was crowned in Milan. Under the influence 
of the Colonnas he received the imperial crown in Rome 
from the hands of two excommunicated bishops. 

In 1330 Frederick of Austria died; and Louis, finding 
himself sole Emperor, called a Diet at Reuse, after the 
death of Leopold, and asked to have his rights defined. 
The princes declared the Roman Emperor to be the 
highest power on earth, and that he owed his election 



House of Liixcvibiirg. i^g 

only to the elective princes of Germany. But he was so 
arrogant under his assumption of power that he divorced 
Margaret, heir of the Tyrol, from the second son of John 
of Bohemia, Henry VII. 's grandson, and gave her to his 
own son Louis, whom he had made Margrave of Branden- 
burg, he having added this Mark to his kingdom. He 
gave up the Palatinate of the Rhine to his brothers 
Rupert and Rudolf, and the Castle of Heidelberg be- 
came the residence for a long time of the Wittelsbachs of 
the Rhine. 

This arrogance rendered him very unpopular, and still 
more so when he made his second son, William, Count 
of Holland. He also vacillated in his dealings with 
Edward III. of England, betraying him to the French 
king. Finally, when he taxed his Italian subjects in 
order to keep up the imperial state, they turned against 
him. After all these perplexities, his character, which 
was always weak, became entirely unsettled, and he began 
to be afraid that if he did not become reconciled to the 
Pope he should lose his soul. The Hohenstaufen had 
borne easily the Papal excommunications so often pro- 
nounced upon them, but they weighed heavily on Louis' 
mind on account of a future purgatory; so he negotiated 
with the Pope, making the greatest concessions, even 
consenting to his own abdication; but this so favored 
the King of France, who had always had his eye on the 
German crown, that the Electors, when they learned of 
all his vacillations, would not bear it. 

The Electors now dethroned Louis, selecting Charles 
of Bohemia, the grandson of Henry VII., and son of John 
of Bohemia of the Luxemburg House; but the cities and 
the temporal princes stood faithfully by Louis, and 
Charles could gain no advantage, and was never, until 
Louis' death, king except in name. 



i8o Germ any: Her People and. Their Story. 

When the blind John of Bohemia, tlie father of Charles 
IV., wns dying in 1346, he had his attendants strap him 
to his saddle, and so he led his troops into the thickest 
of the fight; thus he fell. His motto, Ich dieii (I serve), 
was engraved on his shield. When Edward the Black 
Prince, the hero of Crecy, against whom he fought, was 
informed of his heroism, he assumed the motto; and this, 
with three ostrich plumes, became his crest, and they are 
to-day the motto and crest of the Prince of Wales. 

After his father's death Charles became King of Bo- 
hemia. He then began to make vigorous preparations 
to assume the German crown; but the danger from this 
source of further disaster to the nation was prevented by 
the sudden death of Louis, who was seized with apoplexy 
at a bear-hunt near Munich, where he fell dead from his 
horse, it was said from the effects of poison. He was 
sixty-three years old, and had ruled thirty-three years. 

The only service Louis of Bavaria performed for Ger- 
many was his protection of the free cities. These in- 
creased during his reign to one hundred and fifty in 
number, and thenceforth constituted a separate power in 
the Empire. The cities did much in the way of encour- 
aging literature, and made travel more secure on account 
of the desire for safety to their commerce ; they protected 
the guilds, and in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries 
advanced the progress of Germany more than all the 
spiritual and temporal rulers had ever done. 

Charles IV. bought his election from the archbishop 
with promises and bribes, but he was never crowned until 
a year after the death of Louis of Bavaria. He agreed 
to depose all the German bishops whom Louis had ap- 
pointed, and never to claim any territory in Italy or else- 
where which was considered the property of the Church. 
Although the German princes had determined that no 



House of Lnxanburg. l8l 

other Wittelsbach should sit upon the German throne, 
they were no better pleased with the Luxemburg House. 
Louis of Brandenburg, the late king's son, united with 
Saxony, Mainz, and the Palatinate of the Rhine in offer- 
ing the Empire to Edward IIL of England; but Edward 
had already had enough of the treachery of the German 
princes, and refused it. Therefore they chose Ernest of 
Meissen, who sold his claim to Charles IV. for ten thou- 
sand marks. 

There was a noble knight by the name of Gunther of 
Schwartzburg, for whom two of the Electors had voted 
years before, when Louis was first chosen. The oppo- 
sition now took up this gallant and popular prince, who 
seemed about to succeed, when, after a wasting sickness, 
he died suddenly about a year after Louis of Bavaria's 
death. He is supposed to have been poisoned by a 
draught administered by a physician at the instigation 
of Charles IV., who was immediately after the funeral 
crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. 

Charles IV. was an accomplished scholar, speaking and 
writing Bohemian, German, French, Italian, and Latin. 
In his diplomacy he resembled Rudolf of Hapsburg; 
but he lacked the simple habits of the latter, for he was 
fond of pomp and show, and, unlike Rudolf, was cold, 
calculating, and cunning. The University of Prague, 
which became most celebrated through its students and 
professors, was founded by Charles IV. ; he also fortified 
the city, adorning it with a cathedral, monasteries, bridges, 
and towers. Scholars and specialists in architecture, 
agriculture, and in every branch of trade, were introduced 
by him. He made a new criminal code, and sat often 
in the market-place to enforce the laws. His own people, 
for whom he accomplished a great deal, respected him 
greatly. His father had been a German; but his mother 



1 82 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

was that rough Bohemian princess whom his father, John 
of Bohemia, had at first despised. He cared little for 
Germany and nothing for Italy; consequently, when the 
Pope had crowned him, and made him promise to leave 
Rome the next day, he troubled Italy no more. The 
reign of Charles IV. was as great a disappointment to 
Petrarch as the untimely death of Henry VIL, his grand- 
father, had been to Dante. 

Charles IV. had arrested the patriot Rienzi, the last 
tribune of Rome, and kept him a long time imprisoned 
in Prague ; and it was not until he sent Rienzi back to 
Rome that the Pope allowed Charles to be crowned. 
Maximilian said of him, referring to the locusts, earth- 
quake, and Black Death, visitations to Germany in his 
reign, "Germany never suffered such a pestilential plague 
as Charles IV." The one act for which he is held in 
grateful remembrance by the Germans is his " Golden 
Bull," which remained a law in Germany until the Empire 
came to an end four hundred and fifty years afterwards. 

This Golden Bull confirmed the former custom of hav- 
ing seven chief Electors, who ranked next to the Emperor. 
The Archbishops of Mayence, Treves, and Cologne were 
among the number ; the King of Bohemia was Arch-Cup- 
bearer ; Count Palatine of the Rhine was Arch-Steward; 
Duke of Saxony was Arch-Marshal; and the Margrave of 
Brandenburg was Arch-Chamberlain. The last four re- 
ceived full authority over their territories. The elections 
were to take place at Frankfort, the coronation at Aix- 
la-Chapelle. The electoral rank was made hereditary. 
They had the right to coin money, work mines, and im- 
pose taxes, all formerly functions of the Emperor. 

The effect of this new constitution was to strengthen 
the power of the four Electors, and to encourage the other 
princes to imitate them. It did not remedy the weakness 



House of Luxeinburg. 183 

of the state ; for while it made the princes stronger, the 
government grew weaker. On account of it the spirit of 
the Middle Ages was maintained longer in Germany than 
in other countries. 

At a Diet held by Charles IV. in Nuremberg, the edict 
was written down and signed by the seven Electors, and 
the large imperial seal was pressed in wax upon it. This 
seal was then placed in a golden ball, or "bulla," and 
from this was called the " Golden Bull." The occasion 
was celebrated by a feast in which the princes acted in 
their several capacities, — the King of Bohemia brought 
wine in a golden flagon ; the Pfalzgraf of the Rhine served 
up the dishes ; the Archbishops, as Archchancellors, had 
seals hanging around their necks ; the Duke of Saxony, 
with a vessel containing oats, came as Master of Horse ; 
and the Margrave of Brandenburg, with a basin and ewer 
of gold, as Grand Chamberlain. After the dinner the 
Margrave of Misnia and the Count of Schwarzenburg, as 
Grand-Huntsmen, sounding their horns, called up the 
hounds, and killed a bear and stag in the presence of the 
Emperor. 

Notwithstanding the large estates of Charles IV., he 
was once arrested by his butcher for debt. He died in 
1378, at the age of sixty-three years. His health had been 
gradually failing, and he knew that life would soon be 
over. In his last years he had his son made King of 
Bohemia ; and having stopped to receive the crown of Bur- 
gundy and Aries, he set out for Rome, where his fourth 
wife was proclaimed Empress. When he arrived in the 
city, in order to conciliate the Pope, he led the latter's 
mule from the Castle of St. Angelo to the Vatican. On 
his return to Germany he violated his own Golden Bull 
by having his son Wenzel crowned as his successor, giv- 
ing each of the Electors one hundred thousand florins for 



184 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

his vote. According to the Golden Bull, the sovereignty 
was not to be transmitted by the laws of descent; but, 
notwithstanding this, for ten years Charles had been 
strengthening his house by purchasing influence and giv- 
ing bribes. 

Always Bohemian rather than German in his tastes, 
he preferred Prague to any other residence. Maximilian 
said of him a century later, " He was a genuine father to 
Bohemia, but only a stepfather to the rest of Germany." 
To Wenzel he left Silesia, the Kingdom of Bohemia, and 
the Upper Palatinate; to Sigismund, the Mark of Bran- 
denburg, which through him became the starting-point of 
the House of Hohenzollern ; and to his third son he left 
that part of Lusatia next to Silesia. 

From this time the Germans for the most part ceased 
to care for Italian rule. It was in Charles IV. 's reign 
that the Hanseatic League was commenced. In the year 
after the pestilence, earthquake, and famine, a society of 
self-scourgers, known as the "Flagellants," was formed. 
They spent their time wandering through the streets, 
wailing, singing, and scourging each other publicly; as 
they approached the towns the bells were rung, and all 
the people wept. There is a picture by a celebrated artist 
representing the scene. 

Gunpowder was invented in the reign of Charles IV. 
by a monk named Berthold Schwarz. It soon superseded 
the bow and arrow, while battle-axes and steel and iron 
armor went out of use. Paper was first made from rags 
in this Emperor's reign. 

Charles IV. was fond of practical jokes. Once he sent 
word to his major-domo, whom he valued as a faithful 
retainer, that he, with a famishing hunting-party, would 
be at the castle to dine, and that his steward must be 
well prepared for their appetites. Charles knew that this 



House of Ltixef7iburg. 185 

Dietrich Kagelwit was not looking for him, and conse- 
quently expected that he would have an empty larder, 
since there was no messenger to despatch for provisions; 
but what was his surprise when one most appetizing dish 
after another was brought forward. Kagelwit had had 
all the pigs' ears on the premises cut off, and thus served 
up from them these diversified and savory dishes. The 
king was delighted with the repast, and indulged in a 
hearty laugh when he was let into the secret. " Thou art 
too clever/' said he, "to be intrusted with only one castle; 
henceforth thou shalt take care of a bishop's see." Then 
he made him Bishop of Minden. 



1 86 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

WENZEL. RUPERT. HOUSE OF LUXEMBURG CON- 
TINUED. JOBST. SIGISMUND. 

1378— 1438 A.D. 

WENZEL was only seventeen years old when his 
father died. His mind had been forced into an 
unnatural growth, so that he had enjoyed no real child- 
hood. When he came to the throne his rude and coarse 
nature was so developed that he reminds us of the old 
Roman Emperors, Tiberius, Caligula, and Caracalla, who 
became mad through vice and self-indulgence. 

At his court in Prague, he invited the great nobles to 
an entertainment where there were three tents pitched, 
black, white, and red. Wenzel was in the black tent, and 
as each came in he was asked what crown lands he held. 
If the noble was willing to yield them up he went into 
the white tent, where he found a sumptuous feast; but if 
he declared he had a right to them, he was taken to the 
red tent and beheaded. At another entertainment, before 
his guests sat down he showed each of them the execu- 
tioner leaning on his axe, and said to the latter, "After 
dinner you will have work enough to do." No wonder 
Wenzel got whatever he demanded of men thus terrorized. 

He kept a pack of bloodhounds about his table and in 
his bedchamber. If any one crossed him in the slight- 
est degree, he had the person instantly beheaded. His 
wife led a miserable, scared life. Her confessor, John of 
Nepomuk, was thrown into the river Moldau because he 



Wenzel. 187 

would not betray the confidence the queen had reposed 
in him at confessional. Wenzel, after trying to wring 
the secret from the priest by torture, bound him hand and 
foot, and threw him from the bridge which still bears 
his name at Prague, and where his statue may be seen. 
For as his corpse was washed up it was borne to the 
Cathedral, where the people and clergy flocked to see and 
touch it as the body of a saint. A legend says, "His 
body, floating in the Moldau, was taken up to heaven by 
angels." In any case, he was canonized, and is known 
to this day as Saint Nepomuk. 

Leopold of Austria had been appointed by Wenzel as 
governor of several of the free cities, and he took the op- 
portunity to restore the authority of the Hapsburgs over 
the Swiss cantons. In 1386 Leopold invaded these can- 
tons with an army of four thousand Austrians and also 
some of the Swabian knights. It was the flower of the 
Austrian and Swabian nobility. The Swiss collected one 
thousand three hundred farmers, fishermen, and herds- 
men, armed with halberds and battle-axes, and met Leo- 
pold at Sempach on July 9. The four thousand knights 
dismounted, and presented themselves like a steel wall 
bristling with spears. The peasants knelt for a moment 
in prayer, and then came on at full speed, but wavered 
before the iron bulwark of knights, unable to break 
through. An Unterwalden farmer, Arnold von Winkel- 
ried, so an ancient legend asserts, when he saw that the 
Swiss lances shivered like glass against the armor of the 
Austrians, said, " My faithful comrades, take care of my 
wife and children, and I will make you way." Then he 
gathered as many spears as he could grasp in a sheaf with 
both arms, and threw himself forward upon them. " Make 
way for liberty," he cried; "make way for liberty!" — and 
died. The Swiss sprang into the gap over his dead body; 



1 88 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

and the knights, hampered by their armor, fell on all sides 
under the tremendous blows from the clubs and swords 
of the peasants. Duke Leopold and nearly seven hun- 
dred of his followers perished, and the rest were scattered. 
It was one of the most remarkable triumphs in history. 
All the castles of the South German nobles were filled 
with mourning. 

Two years after, another victory Avas won over the same 
enemy at Nafels, April 9, 1388. After this the Swiss 
Confederation was feared far and wide, while the warlike 
spirit of Austria was broken, and the brave Swiss were 
left unmolested in their strongholds. 

Wenzel had been growing more savage and tyrannical 
in his disposition, until his oppression and injustice had 
made a large section of Bavarian nobles his bitter ene- 
mies. He became so like a madman that he was taken 
prisoner; but his brother Sigismund released him, and 
Wenzel made the latter Vice-Regent of the Empire. 
After Wenzel had tried to depose Bonifacius IX., that 
pope deposed Wenzel, and elected Count Palatine Rupert, 
a Wittelsbach, who had to be crowned at Cologne, as the 
doors of Aix-la-Chapelle were shut against him. Rupert 
tried to strengthen his cause in Italy, but failed; and 
Wenzel might have gained power had he not quarrelled 
with his brother. 

There was great confusion and anarchy in the State, 
and the nation seemed about to be rent asunder. The 
princes, with John of Nassau, tried to run the govern- 
ment under the form of a union called the Merbach 
League, founded in 1408. Finally Rupert died in May, 
1 410; and the nation, considering Wenzel not even a 
figure-head, elected Sigismund, the latter voting for him- 
self as one of the Electors, saying there was no one whose 
good qualities he knew so well as his own. 



Sigismund. 189 

During that year there were three Popes, — Gregory XII. 
in Rome, Benedict XIII. in Avignon, and Alexander V., 
elected at Pisa. Wenzel and Sigismund claimed the 
name of Emperor as well as Jobst of Moravia, who was 
crowned. Jobst died the next year. He was considered 
by some a great man; but a certain critic said of him, 
"There was nothing great about him but his beard." 

At last Wenzel was persuaded to give up his opposi- 
tion, and Sigismund was generally recognized as Emperor, 
in 141 1. He had received the Mark of Brandenburg from 
his father, and through his wife he obtained the crown 
of Hungary ; he also claimed Bosnia and Dalmatia. 

Sigismund had fought the Turks on the Danube, and 
was distinguished for his ccurage and knightly bearing. 
Strikingly handsome, he was unlike his brother Wenzel in 
all his features, having blond hair and blue eyes. He 
was a cultivated linguist, cheerful and popular with all 
classes, but fickle, profligate, and lavish. Sometimes he 
was obliged to accept the bounty of the princes; and in 
141 5, when in great straits, he bartered away, for four 
hundred thousand guldens, the Mark of Brandenburg to 
his friend Frederick, Burgrave of Nuremberg, and Count 
of Hohenzollern. He had received it from his father as 
a part of his inheritance; but it passed into the family 
of Hohenzollern on account of his financial embarrass- 
ment, and afterwards became Prussia. 

From this union and at this point the records of the 
present German nation commence. Beginning with this 
date of 1 41 5, the zealous student of German history de- 
rives more profit in following up this Hohenzollern line 
of princes than in trying to keep alive past issues with 
reference to the old Roman German Empire, which in 
reality had passed away centuries before. Frederick of 
Nuremberg governed the country at that time with great 



1 90 Gennaiiy : Her People and Their Story. 

success, and it is his descendants who now occupy the 
German throne. This transaction, arising from Sigis- 
mund's poverty, and tlie Hussite war, whicli followed the 
martyrdom of Huss, were the two striking events in Sigis- 
mund's reign. 

Long before this time a depraved condition of the 
Catholic clergy, especially in Italy, had permeated every 
branch of the Church. This was the reaction from its 
ascetic attitude in the time of Gregory VII., when all the 
convents and monasteries were scenes of fasting and self- 
abasement too depressing for humanity to bear. Since 
that time the demoralization of the Church had been 
rapid, on account of its arrogance and despotic power. 

As early as 1360, preachers had arisen advocating the 
principles of the gospel, and admonishing their hearers 
to live simply and righteously. Although persecuted by 
the priests, these men found many followers, and their 
influence was always widening; for at the same time 
Wycliffe was stirring up the people of England, and the 
excitement in Prague was growing stronger on account 
of Wycliffe's writings, which were read by the learned 
scholars there. 

John Huss, who had studied at the University of 
Prague, afterwards a professor there, was the leader of the 
movement in Bohemia. In 1398 he defended Wycliffe's 
doctrine among the professors ; and four years later, in 
spite of opposition, he was made Rector of the University. 
With him was associated Jerome of Prague, a young 
Bohemian nobleman who had studied at Oxford, and was 
imbued with Wycliffe's spirit. The learning and lofty 
character of both gave them great influence ; for the 
Bohemian people were crying out against the Pope's claim 
to be universal bishop, and against the refusal of the 
Church to give the cup in the Holy Communion to the 



Sigismund. 191 

laity ; they also denounced the edict given by the Pope, 
that those who went on Crusades and pilgrimages should 
be freed from a certain number of years of purgatory. It 
was even at this date whispered that indulgences remit- 
ting a part of this fiery punishment might be had for 
money, which was supposed to be spent in alms, but in 
fact went to the needs, real or imaginary, of the cardinals 
and Pope. Huss preached against all these abuses, and 
also against the worship of saints and images. 

The consequence of this excitement was a division be- 
tween the Bohemians and Germans in the University of 
Prague ; the Germans taking the part of Rome, and their 
professors going to Leipsic, where they founded a new 
University. When, in 141 5, these dissensions were re- 
ported to the Pope, he excommunicated Huss. The pope, 
John XXIII., at this time offered pardon and indulgences 
for crime to those who would take up arms with him 
against the King of Naples. Huss and Jerome preached 
against this abomination, and burned the Pope's bull in 
the streets of Prague. The Emperor Sigismund was bent 
on holding a council to set all this discussion to rights. 
Huss himself wanted an assembly of the Church ; all 
Christendom also desired it, for they felt that the corrup- 
tion caused by the three rival Popes could no longer be 
endured. 

Sigismund brought together a motley crowd at Con- 
stance, which he called a Council, consisting of one Pope 
(John XXIII.), three patriarchs, thirty-three cardinals, 
forty-seven archbishops, two hundred and twenty-four ab- 
bots, one thousand eight hundred priests, and seven hun- 
dred and fifty doctors of theology, followed by a strange 
lot of all kinds of people, — squires and friars, knights, 
peddlers, merchants, mountebanks, beggars, and jugglers, 
so that the city seemed like a big fair. But though the 



1 92 Germany : Her People and TJieir Story. 

assembly was imposing, there was one man in dark attire 
among the gayly decked cardinals. His bearing was firm 
but unobtrusive. Isolated, except for a few trusty friends, 
he still stood calm, though knowing that he was surrounded 
by enemies whom he could not trust ; for John Huss had 
in his pocket a letter from the Emperor which was a " safe 
conduct ; " this insured his life. The Emperor had signed 
it, and the great imperial seal was upon it ; therefore Huss 
felt safe. 

In opening the Council, when one of the cardinals took 
him up for his grammar, which was not quite correct, the 
vain Sigismund is reported to have said, " I am King of 
the Romans and Lord of the Latin grammar." The as- 
sembly began by deposing John XXIII., who sought 
safety in flight. But since Frederick of Austria did not 
dare to protect him, he was given up as prisoner to the 
sovereigns of Europe. The Council next turned to Huss, 
and asked him to defend his belief. " I^Iy doctrines are 
those of my Saviour, and I preach only that which stands 
in Holy Writ." The Council called him a blasphemer, 
and forbade him to continue his teachings on pain of 
death. Every time he attempted to speak, the outcries 
of the bishops and priests drowned his voice. He would 
not promise silence, and so he was condemned to be 
burned. He showed the king's " safe conduct ; " but 
Sigismund, when he saw his own document, said, " No 
faith is to be kept with heretics ; " and so Huss was 
thrown into a dungeon, only coming forth to answer the 
charges against him before his final sentence. 

Two miles outside of the city of Constance, surrounded 
by beautiful country landscape, may be seen to-day a 
rough granite bowlder, the centre of which has been 
smoothed; and on it this inscription appears : " Here died 
John Huss, July 6, 1415, burned as a heretic." The 



Sigisimmd. 193 

name of Jerome of Prague, who died the year after, May 
30, 1 41 6, is inscribed on tlie same bowlder. 

On that fatal July day, as Huss was led before the con- 
gregation, a bishop read the charges ; but only once did he 
raise his voice to demand a fair hearing, which had been 
promised him, and to obtain which he had accepted the 
Emperor's protection. When the sacramental cup was 
placed by some friend in his hand, it was instantly snatched 
from him with the words, "Thou accursed Judas, we take 
from thee this cup, wherein the blood of Christ is offered 
up for the forgiveness of sin ; " to which Huss replied, 
" I trust that to-day I shall drink of this cup in the king- 
dom of God.'' Then kneeling and praying fervently, he 
said, " I commend my soul to my Lord." Again, being 
offered a chance to retract, he replied in a loud voice that 
he would seal by his death the truths he had taught. At 
this the common people began to doubt his being a heretic; 
but the authorities stripped him of every article of his 
priestly dress, and his soul was commended by them to 
the devil. As the fire began to envelop him, he prayed 
with a loud voice, and sung the " Christi eleison " (Jesus 
have mercy) until he was suffocated by the rising flames. 
His ashes were collected, and cast into the lake. 

The fate of Huss and Jerome created such a fever of 
excitement in Bohemia that four or five hundred nobles 
signed a document proclaiming that the doctrines of Huss 
must be freely taught, and that no " Interdict " of the 
Church could be enforced. 

The Hussites, having organized with four thousand 
men, assembled on a mountain, and chose a nobleman, 
surnamed Ziska " the one-eyed," as leader. They formed 
a procession, and marched through Prague, carrying the 
sacramental cup at their head, and took possession of the 
town by force. They broke into the City Hall, and flung 



194 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

the Burgomaster and his officers upon the upheld spears 
of those below. The Hussites were already divided into 
the Calixtines and the Taborites, the Taborites being 
always the more moderate party. 

Ziska had been a friend of Huss; he was now an old 
man, broad-shouldered, bald-headed, with deep furrows 
across his brow. When he marched through Prague, 
storming the council-chamber and murdering the clergy, 
Wenzel, who had indorsed the Hussite views after his 
dethronement, had, on account of the prevailing excite- 
ment, a return of the madness which had at times affected 
him all his life, and fell dead in a fit. This was in 1419. 

Ziska continued his march through Bohemia at the head 
of an army of both sexes and of every age, waving a ban- 
ner with the chalice inscribed upon it. This army com- 
mitted every conceivable depredation under the guise 
of religion. After Ziska had lost his other eye by means 
of an arrow sent by an enemy from one of the towns they 
were storming, the very name of the blind warrior became 
a terror throughout the land. He used a horrible iron 
mace with which he beat down all before him. Afterwards 
he introduced " thunder-guns," and in the crusades now 
organized, sent them out against the enemy. In these en- 
counters the Hussites were always victorious. Sigismund 
and the Duke of Austria were defeated at the head of 
ten thousand men in one of these raids, and came very 
near falling into their hands. Finally all Bohemia and 
parts of Germany stood in awe of these wild fanatics, who 
burned and butchered in the name of God. During one 
of these campaigns they destroyed five hundred and thirty 
convents and monasteries. " Believe in Huss or we give 
you no quarter," was their watchword while scouring the 
country, burning villages, and slaughtering thousands of 
innocent victims. This was called the " Hussite War," 



Sigisniund. 195 

and lasted sixteen years, until the Electors and even the 
king himself became so tired out that at last they always 
yielded without a battle. Finally Sigisniund retired in 
disgust to Hungary to fight the Turks, and left the other 
German states to finish the war without him. 

Ziska died of the plague in 1424; but Procop Holy suc- 
ceeded him, and was equally successful in leading the 
hosts on to battle; but he used the same kind of tactics, 
murdering and plundering indiscriminately the "enemies 
of God." Some critic has said that both Ziska and Pro- 
cop Holy equalled in their military tactics the greatest 
generals, not only of their times, but of any age. 

At last all parties in the kingdom grew weary of so 
much turmoil and bloodshed, and were now ready for 
a compromise on almost any basis. A council was held 
at Basle, and concessions made which satisfied the Tabor- 
ites, the administration of the Holy Eucharist in full being 
allowed the laity, who were permitted to keep the prop- 
erty of which they had robbed the priests. The ultra 
faction of the Hussites held out some time ; but it was 
finally defeated, and the whole sect, after it had done its 
work among the people and prepared the nation for future 
reform, disappeared. 

Emperor Sigisniund entered Prague in 1436, after sign- 
ing a general amnesty. He had been unfortunate in his 
marriage, and a conspiracy was formed against him in 
which his wife was implicated. On account of her agency 
with reference to the plot, concerning which he had been 
warned by his son, he left Prague for Hungary; but on 
reaching the capital of Moravia, he felt death approach- 
ing, and naming Albert of Austria his successor, he put 
on the royal robes, and seated himself in the chair of 
state, thus exhibiting the innate vanity of his character. 
He died the 9th of December, 1437. ^^ ^^"^ ^^^^ ^"^^^ 



1 96 Gerviany : Her People and Their Story. 

to Pope Eugene IV., "There are three points of differ- 
ence between thee and me. Thou risest early, I sleep 
late ; thou drinkest water, I prefer wine ; thou art driving 
the Church to destruction, I the Empire!" 

The Luxemburg dynasty passed away with Sigismund, 
after having been a source of weakness to Germany for 
almost a century. 



The Hojise of Hapsburg. ic^j 



CHAPTER XXII. 

THE HOUSE OF HAPSBURG. 
Albert II. Frederick III. 

1438—1493 A.D. 

ALBERT II. became Emperor, March i8, 1438 and 
with him commenced regularly the Hapsburg dy- 
nasty, which had so long coveted the undivided imperial 
power. For a period of over three hundred and fifty 
years the Hapsburg house held the government, until 
1806, when Francis II. relinquished the title of Emperor 
of Germany and the Empire came to an end. 

Albert II. was chosen King of Hungary and of Bohemia, 
as well as of Germany. He was Sigismund's son-in-law, 
a man of strong character, honest, upright, and wise. He 
only reigned a year and a half ; and during this time he was 
obliged to give his attention to keeping back the Ottoman 
Turks, who were already threatening Constantinople on 
one side and Hungary on the other. For the most part 
he left the Empire in the hands of his chancellor, Schlick, 
a man in sympathy with him, but of a weak character ; 
consequently little that was beneficial to Germany was 
accomplished in his reign. Albert died in Hungary, in 
1439, ^^ his forty-second year. His illness was brought on 
by exposure while camping with his army in the unhealthy 
marshes in Hungary, and he was obliged to turn back. 
His physician urged him to stop at Baden, but he said he 
should be well if he could only see Vienna and his wife 



198 Germany : Her People and TJieir Story. 

again; accordingly they carried him forward on a litter to 
a small village, where he died. He left two little girls, 
and a son, Ladislas, a few days old. 

After much discussion, the Electors met, March 18, 
1438, and chose the cousin of Albert II., Frederick of 
Styria and Carinthia, who was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle 
as Frederick III. He was so indolent and eccentric that 
the people nicknamed him the " nightcap king," and he 
was such a mere wooden ruler that he promised to be all 
that the princes required. He was abject in his obedi- 
ence to the Papal power ; and his secretary, ^neas Syl- 
veus, ruled him entirely in the interest of the Church. 

The Council of Basle, which had met just before the 
election of Albert II., had issued decrees which put an 
end to the Hussite war. Albert II. had accepted these 
reformatory enactments, and it seemed probable that the 
abuses which had kept Christendom in a ferm.ent for a 
score of years were about to be brought to an end. Pope 
Eugene IV. had been deposed in favor of Felix V. ; and 
the former, in order to be reinstated, was about to yield to 
the princes in giving entire freedom to the Church in Ger- 
many ; but Frederick III. on his accession offered aid 
to Eugene IV., so that in 1448 he signed the Concordat 
of Aschafferung, by which the very evils were perpetuated 
from which the Church had been trying to rid itself so 
long. After the matter was settled, the princes easily fell 
back into the old rut ; and thus the chance for a reforma- 
tion, which might have come about easily, was lost, and 
the great upheaval, which could without difificulty have 
been averted, happened three quarters of a century later. 
This for the time was an inevitable disaster to the nation, 
though the result was religious emancipation. 

Frederick III. was always dabbling in alchemy, trying 
to make gold, of which he was so fond, out of the baser 



The House of Haps burg. 199 

metals. He used to rise in the night, and try to predict, 
by the course of the stars, what destiny would bring to 
him. He believed in magic, and wondered why that which 
he neglected through indolence did not come about in a 
miraculous way. Singularly enough, in the course of his 
reign of fifty-three years, it did seem that the mills of God 
"ground measurably fine " for such a shiftless king. 

Frederick III. did not receive the crown of Hungary or 
Bohemia, and Austria he shared with his brother Albert. 
The people of Hungary had desired Ladislas of Poland 
for their king ; but when he was ready to receive the badge 
of sovereignty, the Holy Crown of St. Stephen could not 
be found. Elizabeth, the wife of Albert H., appeared, 
leading her little son, and produced the crown, which had 
been hidden in the child's cradle ; it had been placed on 
the infant's head when the child was only twelve weeks 
old. But the King of Poland, who afterwards died fight- 
ing the Turks, was chosen by the people ; and the diadem 
was again lost, being secreted by Frederick HI. The 
boy was kept under the care of the latter until 1457, at 
the time of the great festivities in Rome. Then Fred- 
erick married the beautiful Eleanor of Portugal, and 
Austria, with Hungary and Bohemia, were made over to 
Ladislas; but the same year the lad, who was sixteen 
years old, died ; and Matthew Corvinus, son of General 
Hunyadi, who had defended the Hungarians against the 
Turks, was elected king ; for the Turks had been more 
dangerous than ever to Hungary since the taking of 
Constantinople in 1453. 

In 1452 Frederick III. had made the title of the heir to 
the throne of Austria "Archduke." He was the last Em- 
peror crowned at Rome, and the last, excepting one, 
crowned by the Pope. Notwithstanding he was such a 
sluggard king, many startling events happened in the 



200 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

great world in his long reign. As mentioned, the Turks 
had taken Constantinople, and had broken up the East- 
ern Empire, which, as the Byzantine Empire, had lasted 
a thousand years, although for many centuries it had only 
included Constantinople and the small adjacent districts. 

Printing was also invented by Gutenberg in Frede- 
rick III.'s reign. This opened a new era in literature and 
learning. 

Many new universities were founded in this reign, 
public libraries were established, education among the 
people became widespread, and, notwithstanding the Em- 
peror's dogmatic views with relation to the Church, a 
lively interest in religion sprang up, and was dissemi- 
nated among the people by the printed Word of God. 
A quarter of a century later the fires of the Reformation 
burst forth ; the fuse which the martyrdom of Huss and 
the Hussite war had lighted was nearly spent, and the 
people were ready for the coming avalanche of truth. 
Twenty years after Frederick III.'s death, Luther nailed 
his ninety-five Theses to the doors of the University of 
Wittenberg ; and in two years after the death of the former, 
public sentiment had become so enlightened that people 
and princes, desiring the establishment of laws for the 
government of the people, cried out for a constitution ; con- 
sequently a Diet was called at Worms, and the movement, 
which was begun in this reign, resulted in a proclamation 
of a "Perpetual National Peace," called the "Land-peace." 

The Swiss also made their last desperate struggle for 
independence in the reign of Frederick III. In the year 
1444, at St. Jacob, near Basle, sixteen hundred devoted 
Swiss fought against thirty thousand French soldiers, 
loaned to the Emperor for the purpose of reconquering 
the Hapsburg possessions in Switzerland. Every man of 
the sixteen hundred lay dead on the field of St. Jacob, 



TJie House of Hapsbiirg. 201 

which to-day is pointed out to strangers as the "battle- 
field ; " while a fine national monument on the outskirts 
of Basle, a mile or two from the scene of the memorable 
engagement, is crowned with an Helvetia, — a majestic 
goddess of Liberty. Four men sit at its massive cor- 
ners with the same agony in their faces which men saw 
that day, and in their hands the battle-axes and war- 
clubs which scattered the thirty thousand soldiers of the 
enemy, and banished forever the idea that the House of 
Austria could claim the allegiance of the old Haps- 
burghers in Switzerland. But so softening is the influence 
of time on men's minds, that only a few years since the 
old castle of Hapsburg in Switzerland is said to have 
been offered as a toy to the heir of the Austrian Empire. 

While the three or four hundred bishops, dukes, counts, 
abbots, barons, and cities were fighting or at peace as 
suited them, Frederick HI. was hunting in his rose-gar- 
den for caterpillars, or quarrelling with his brother Albert, 
who was then alive and intriguing to get possession of 
the kingdom of Bohemia and Hungary, which Matthew 
Corvinus and George Podiebrand held. 

The Duchy of Burgundy, during the century, had 
grown to be a kingdom in size, and was now able to 
throw off its dependence to both France and Germany. 
Philip the Bold had so extended his influence by mar- 
riage and power that in the time of his grandson, Philip 
the Good, the kingdom embraced all of Holland and 
Belgium, and extended from the Rhine to the North Sea. 

In 1467 Philip the Good died; and Charles the Bold, 
who was rash, vindictive, and inordinately ambitious, 
desired to extend his domains from the Alps to the Medi- 
terranean, and to own Alsace and Lorraine. This would 
make Burgundy almost the same in extent of territory as 
the lands given to Lothair in 843 at the " Treaty of Ver- 



202 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

dun." Frederick III. fell in with this diplomacy, and 
went to visit the Duke of Burgundy for the purpose of 
arranging a marriage between the king's daughter, Mary 
of Burgundy, and his own son Maximilian. But the 
splendor at Treves, and his jealousy because he could 
not compete with the duke in display, affected him so 
much that he left suddenly without an adieu. 

In order to secure the alliance of the Swiss against 
Burgundy, Frederick now concluded a " Perpetual Peace," 
relinquishing forever the claims of Hapsburg. Sigis- 
mund of the Tyrol had an interest in Baden and Alsace, 
and when Charles the Bold of Burgundy refused to give 
up Alsace and Lorraine, war was declared. But Charles 
of Burgundy settled it himself, again offering his daugh- 
ter's hand to Maximilian, the son of Frederick, conced- 
ing a truce of nine years to Louis XI. of France. In 
this truce Frederick III. treacherously gave up Switzer- 
land and Lorraine, which he had persuaded to become 
his allies, to Charles the Bold; the latter seized Lorraine, 
transferred his capital to Nancy, crossed the river, and 
appeared before the town of Granson on the Lake of 
Neufchatel. 

As was their custom, before the battle the Swiss fell 
upon their knees in prayer. Noticing this, Charles said, 
"See, they are begging for mercy; but not one of them 
shall escape." But no Swiss ever begged mercy of a 
tyrant. The battle raged fiercely for hours, until the 
warriors of Uri and the heroes of Unterwalden were 
heard approaching. When they joined their brethren, a 
panic seized the Burgundians, who fled after a short 
struggle, leaving all their camp-equipage, cannon, and 
such enormous treasure in the hands of the Swiss, that 
the latter divided the money by hatfuls, and distributed 
the rich spoils. This was May 3, 1476. In 1477 ^ 



TJie House of Hapsbjirg. 203 

final battle was fought before Nancy. After this defeat 
the body of Charles the Bold was found frozen in the 
mud, so disfigured that it could scarcely be recognized. 

Mary of Burgundy was beset by Louis XI., who wished 
to marry her to his son. Her own subjects, having be- 
come turbulent and factious, put her father's trusty coun- 
cillor to death. In her distress she sent her ring to the 
Prince Maximilian, and he, hastening to her aid, married 
her at once. For three years they were most happy to- 
gether; but in 1482 she was killed by a fall from her 
horse. She left two little children, Philip "and Mar- 
garethe. Although after many years Maximilian married 
again, he seems never to have loved any one as he had 
loved his early bride. 

Austria was finally secured to the House of Hapsburg 
by the death of Matthew Corvinus. 

Maximilian got into trouble with Charles VIII., son of 
Louis XI. of France, in 1482. The Frenchman was be- 
trothed to Anne of Brittany, and had been married to her 
by proxy, while his own daughter, Margarethe, the child 
of Mary of Burgundy, was plighted to the King of France. 
But seeing danger to his kingdom from the alliance, the 
King of France sent back Maximilian's daughter, and 
married Anne of Brittany himself. Maximilian then made 
war upon France; but by a treaty of peace, in 1493, Bur- 
gundy was given back to the latter. 

Although Frederick III. was seventy-eight years old, 
and had for some time left the care of the kingdom to 
his son Maximilian, he might have lived some time longer 
but for the amputation of his foot, which he injured in 
a fit of anger. He died from the effects of the surgical 
operation in August, 1493, having reigned fifty-three years, 
the longest of any sovereign except Augustus and Queen 
Victoria. All his books were stamped with the vowels 



204 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

"A E I O U," which meant " Alles Erdreich ist Oestereich 
unterthan.^' (All the earth is subject to Austria.) Thus 
it is seen that the old German Empire was really dead, 
and the House of Hapsburg, from this time until Prussia 
became full fledged, was the reigning power of Europe. 

Frederick III. was the last Emperor who amused the 
Roman people by leading the Pope's mule, and by stoop- 
ing to kiss the sacred foot of ''His Holiness." 

The art of printing, spoken of before in this chapter, 
was first suggested by the manufacture and use of play- 
ing-cards, which were cut in blocks, and then struck off. 
Wood-engraving had already been practised; and as early 
as 1420 entire books were produced, each page in a 
single block. But John Gensfleisch, or Gutenberg as 
he called himself, originated in 1436 a plan of casting 
movable type, setting them together to form words. For 
some time the difficulty of finding a suitable metal and 
ink, which would give a clear impression, was felt. As 
Gutenberg was a poor man, he went to a rich goldsmith, 
John Fiist of Mayence, and to Peter Schoffer, to obtain 
assistance. Schoffer was to design the letters, and Fiist 
was to furnish capital. In 1440 the first printing-press 
was completed. Schoffer discovered the right combina- 
tion for type-metal as well as good ink. The earliest 
work printed was a Latin singing-book, which appeared 
in 1457. In 1461 the first Latin Bible was printed; in 
1463 German Bibles were sold from thirty to sixty g7ilde/is 
(twelve to twenty-four dollars). This was one-tenth of 
the cost of the same text copied by the monks. 

Gutenberg was treated very badly by Fiist ; for as soon 
as the latter had the secret, and saw that the experiment 
was going to be a success, he asked the former to pay him 
back the money he had advanced ; and when Gutenberg 
was unable to do this, he seized his printing-press and 



The House of Hapsbiirg. 205 

blocks. After he had driven Gutenberg out of Mayence, 
Fiist and Schoffer finished printing the Bible without 
him. They kept the art a profound secret for a long time ; 
and the people thought that the books were produced by 
magic, because they multiplied so rapidly, were sold so 
cheap, and each copy resembled so exactly the other. It 
was soon reported that Fiist was in league with the Devil. 
Thus the story of "John Faust," who sold himself to the 
Devil, came about, which was used by Goethe as the 
foundation of his great poem, "Faust." 

When Adolf of Nassau (not the Emperor), in 1462, 
took Mayence, the invention of printing was brought to 
light, and printing-presses were set up in Holland, Italy, 
and England. The monks would have suppressed the art 
if they could; for it spoiled their trade of copying, and 
enlightened the people in branches which they had pre- 
viously not understood. This discovery was the dawn of 
the Renaissance. 



2o6 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

MAXIMILIAN I. POETS, PAINTERS, AND CUSTOMS OF 

HIS DAY. 

1493—1519 A.D. 

MAXIMILIAN had held the reins of government 
already for so many years that there was no revul- 
sion of feeling in the nation when he took the nominal 
control. He was called in history " The last of the 
knights." He was a man of fascinating manners, grace- 
ful and tall, with remarkably handsome features, clear 
blue eyes, and blond hair falling upon his shoulders, — 
in every sense a brilliant man. He had studied all the 
arts and sciences and all the languages then known. He 
was very simple in his habits and tastes, making long 
marches with his soldiers, and carrying his own lance. 
It is said that he could forge his own armor, and temper 
his own sword. He was endowed with a bold, adventu- 
rous spirit, his body being developed by constant exercise, 
and he was one of the boldest, bravest, and most skilful 
knights of his day. Some powerful feats of his daring 
have been handed down in history. Once in a den of 
lions he bravely defended himself until help came, and 
it was one of his pastimes to stand on the highest 
point of cathedral spires with one foot hanging over ; 
he did this once on the pinnacle of the great Ulm Cathe- 
dral. 

The story of Maximilian falling down a precipice, 
and being caught on a shelving rock, while chasing the 



Maximilian I. 207 

chamois, in some of his mountain climbing, is a familiar 
historical incident. The legend runs thus: While wan- 
dering among the mountains of the Tyrol, he found him- 
self on a ledge of the loftiest peak of the Martinsward, 
whence there was no way up or down. He was discov- 
ered and seen by the populace in this perilous situation 
with no hope of rescue ; whereupon he threw down a stone 
wrapped in a piece of paper on which he had written the 
request that mass might be celebrated below, and that a 
shot might be fired to let him know when the elevation of 
the host took place. He is supposed to have been mi- 
raculously saved, as a shepherd-boy came leading him 
through a passage in the cleft of the mountain which has 
never been seen since that time. The shepherd-boy was 
by the Tyrolese believed to be an angel, as he was never 
heard of again. 

There is a legend about a tournament in Worms orga- 
nized by Emperor Maximilian which brought together 
the knights of the country. All went on as usual, until 
a giant with strong weapons and an immense sword ap- 
peared. His horse is said to have been "seven yards 
long and four yards tall." The giant inspired all the 
knights with fear, for he was frightful to behold. He 
came and took up his quarters in the best inn, placing 
his shining shield in the window. Then he called out 
boldly, " I will serve whomsoever conquers me, but he 
whom I overcome must be my slave." At the end of 
the first week no one had dared to compete for the honor 
at the risk of his own life. The Emperor called upon his 
men to take the field, for such cowardly delay troubled 
his knightly soul. A second week passed by, and no one 
had yet offered to contend. Then there rode forth from 
the Emperor's castle a knight who called out, "Up, com- 
rade ! to the spear and sword ; now the chance is given to 



2o8 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

earn perennial fame." The giant, seizing his weapons, 
rode to the field, while all the folk from far and near went 
forth to watch the fight. They meet ; their horses fall ; 
but both seize swords and meet once more. The giant is 
bearing down upon his antagonist with a terrible blow ; 
but the latter springs aside, and with one great stroke 
cuts off the giant's right hand. A shout arises far over 
the plain ; rises and ever rises again ; for when the un- 
known knight lifts his visor, behold ! it is the Emperor 
Maximilian. 

Maximilian loved the dear old cities of Nuremberg and 
Augsburg, and doted on their artistic belongings, their 
quaint houses with histories of ancient ancestors painted 
on the outside. The oriole windows pleased him, full of 
lovely maidens surrounded with flowers, who were always 
smiling on the gracious Emperor as he sought their laugh- 
ing faces each time he passed. In climbing the turrets, 
the pastime in which he so often indulged, he could look 
far into the country, and dream of the things which he 
afterwards wove into the poetry that gave him a reputa- 
tion as one of the literary men of the time of which the 
poet Melchoir wrote, " When Kaiser Maximilian sung." 
It was one of the most celebrated eras of culture the 
world ever knew, and the fine arts flourished in Germany 
mainly through the Emperor's influence. 

There are some famous letters still existing which com- 
pose a correspondence between himself and his remark- 
able daughter, Margarethe, one of the children of Mary 
of Burgundy, his cherished wife. Margarethe of Bur- 
gundy was a very clever woman ; for besides bringing up 
the children of her brother Philip, who were the grand- 
children of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, she used 
to negotiate treaties between nations, and once almost 
pulled out the hair of the minister of Louis XII. of 



Maxi7>iilian I. 209 

France because he did not agree with her in the policy 
in regard to the Venetian Republic. 

It would be pleasant to leave out the mixed traits of 
Maximilian's character, which critics have pronounced 
visionary and unpractical. To be a knight, and practise 
the old chivalry by bountiful hospitality and generosity 
toward all about him, suited him better than toning down 
his impulses into wisdom. 

All his life Maximilian was in the habit of originatincr 
great schemes, and for want of money and the support of 
the princes suddenly breaking down in them. By this 
means he lost the respect to a large degree of his subjects 
and the confidence of the world at large. When Julius II, 
died Maximilian tried to make himself Pope, thinking 
thus to reform the Church according to his own ideas; 
but Pope Leo X. was chosen in his stead. 

The " Perpetual Peace " recommended by the Diet of 
Worms, already referred to, was very hard to carry out. 
It had been agreed that this Diet should meet annually, 
and remain in session one month in order to enforce its 
decrees ; one of these was concerning a tax, which was 
first imposed at the time of the Hussite war ; but Maxi- 
milian had found it very difiicult to collect such a tribute. 
It was to support the Imperial Court, and was called the 
" common penny." A proposition, however, to appoint 
an Imperial Council of State of twenty members, equiva- 
lent to a " Ministry," which should have power in certain 
cases to act in the Emperor's name, was rejected by Maxi- 
milian as an invasion of his personal rights. 

The Diet agreed to furnish the Emperor with nine 
thousand men, to be employed against the French and 
afterwards against the Turks, who, since the taking of 
Constantinople, were growing more dangerous every year. 
Maximilian could never arouse sufficient public spirit to 



2IO Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

fight the Turks efficiently, although he appealed to the 
superstitions of the Germans by setting up a large mete- 
oric stone in one of the churches, saying it was a thunder- 
bolt sent down to show the wrath of heaven, which was 
to be visited upon them on account of their effeminacy 
in letting the Turks overrun their land. It has truly been 
said that the German nation could have repelled the Otto- 
man invasion, and saved Turkey to Christendom, if a 
quarter of the zeal expended on one of the Crusades had 
been used against them. 

After having vainly tried to bring the Swiss within 
the jurisdiction of the Imperial Council, with the loss of 
twenty thousand lives and two thousand castles and vil- 
lages, the Emperor was obliged formally to acknowledge 
the independence of Switzerland, in a treaty at Basle in 
1499. 

An alliance called the " Holy League " had been formed 
against France, but Louis XII. succeeded in dissolving it 
by marrying a sister of Henry VIII. of England. He gave 
up Navarre and Naples to Spain, offering money to Swit- 
zerland, and proposing a marriage to the Emperor which 
gave Milan to the Hapsburg House. By giving Navarre 
and Naples to Spain, it really insured them to the Haps- 
burg line ; since Maximilian's son Philip had recently mar- 
ried Johanna, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. 
This marriage proved most disastrous to Germany ; for 
Charles V., afterwards Emperor of Germany, was Philip's 
son. 

Maximilian always entertained selfish projects for the 
aggrandizement of his house ; and this gave rise to an- 
other cause of disorder in the continual disobedience of 
the princes, who through the feudal period had always 
been trying to rule in their own right. Maximilian once 
said, " The King of France reigns over asses, for they 



Maxiniilian /. 2ii 

will bear any burden he pleases to give them ; the King 
of Spain is a king of men, for they only submit to reason ; 
the King of England is a king of angels, who do willing, 
faithful service ; but the Emperor of Germany reigns over 
kings, who only obey him when they choose." 

Notwithstanding some weaknesses, Maximilian man- 
aged, out of the chaos of the government of that time, to 
get things ready for a more peaceful future solution, by 
dividing the Empire into the districts of Bavaria, Swabia, 
Franconia, Austria, Westphalia, Burgundy, Upper and 
Lower Saxony, and the Upper and Lower Rhine, a gover- 
nor being placed over each province. This division of 
Germany, although it looked like a politic arrangement, 
did but little good at first, because the states had for so 
long had their own way that the execution of the laws 
regulating the government of these territories was hard 
to maintain. 

The feudal system, though nominally enforced, was 
also breaking up ; for the obligation to give military 
service, which had always been a part of it, was now no 
longer binding. Muskets and cannon had come into 
general use, and therefore heavy armor for man and horse 
had become useless. Now it was courage, it was brains, 
and not physical strength, that won victories; and, as 
a result, knighthood was departing with the conditions 
which had rendered it necessary and had been the main- 
spring of its life. 

Another element of the later Middle Ages became ex- 
tinct when Frederick of Hohenzollern began to use artil- 
lery against the castles of the nobles. Then the days of 
plunder ceased, and it became more and more evident in 
Maximilian's reign that new times had come. 

Ever since Henry the Fowler, hunting in the Hartz 
Mountains, complained to the men who had come to an- 



2 1 2 Gernia7iy : Her People and Tlieir Story. 

nounce his election as king, that they would spoil his 
"catch of birds," the civil classes in the towns had been 
growing to be more a power in the land. Now the 
strength of Germany lay chiefly in these cities, which had 
always encouraged all forms of industry, and created a 
class of learned men independent of the clergy. 

Hans Sachs, the "Cobbler of Nuremberg, " was the 
father of the Meistersingers, who laid down many rules 
for writing verse. He wrote numerous poems while he 
was making shoes. His house is one of the sights of 
Nuremberg, and in the museum there is a pair of boots 
which he made. He did not always use the rules of the 
Meistersingers when he wrote his best poems while he 
was working over his lasts, but his genius and wit found 
ample scope. He and his artisan companions are strik- 
ingly memorialized in Longfellow's verse: — 

" Through these streets, so broad and stately, these obscure and dismal lanes, 
Walked of yore the Mastersingers, chanting rude poetic strains. 
Here Hans Sachs, the cobbler-poet, laureate of the gentle craft, 
Wisest of the Twelve Wise Masters, in huge folios sang and laughed. " 

The composer Richard Wagner also honored him by 
an opera called, ''''Die Meistersdtiger von N'tir?iberg." 

Michael Wohlgemuth was the father of German oil- 
painting. He was the master of that wonderful painter 
and poet, Albert Diirer, whose works are the pride of 
Nuremberg to this day. The house of Diirer is still seen 
there, where several of his paintings are kept. Long- 
fellow also paid effective tribute to the gifted bard of 
Nuremberg when he wrote : — 

" Not thy Councils, not thy Kaisers, win for thee the world's regard ; 
But thy painter, Albrecht Diirer, and Hans Sachs, thy cobbler-bard. 
Here, when Art was still religion, with a simple, reverent heart, 
Lived and labored Albrecht Diirer, the Evangelist of Art. " 




The King's Bridge at Ni'kemberg. 

{From a photograph , ) 



Poets, Painters, and Customs. 213 

No one who visits that quaint old city fails to seek out 
with much pains the " Iron Ring " in the network of the 
Schoner Brutvicn, a beautiful fountain in the market-place 
not far from the Frauenkirche. 

The legend runs that Diirer's wife was jealous of his 
art, and hindered him at his painting all she could; but 
he loved her, and always bore her persecutions patiently. 
After nursing her fondly through many weary days, when 
she had died he was seized with remorse, and wept him- 
self to sleep because he thought he had failed to make 
her happy. The women who cared for the remains of 
his wife declared they saw an angel pass into the room 
where Diirerwas, and speak to him. At any rate, he had 
a dream, in which a ministering spirit came to console 
him, and held up the wedding-ring before him, which had 
just been taken from the hand of the dead wife, sa3dng, 
'' This has not been a pledge of love and affection to thee, 
poor Diirer, and I have come to remove it from thee. I 
will turn it to iron as an emblem of the chain thou hadst 
to wear, and it shall be inserted in the most beautiful 
fountain of this town as a memorial of thy life and works 
and an imperishable honor to its citizens." Thereupon 
the angel vanished, carrying off the ring; and when Diirer 
awoke, the token could not be found. Then the news 
spread that there had been a miracle performed. Soon 
after the iron ring seen there to-day was noticed inserted 
in the railing of the fountain in the market-place; and 
no one knew who put it there, no opening in the ring ever 
having been discovered. The good people of Nurem- 
berg, even up to the present time, have always considered 
it a miracle, though the guilds regard it as an emblem 
of the workman's craft. 

Since the knighthood of the Hohenstaufen had passed 
away, the cities had become centres of wealth and Intel- 



2 1 4 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

ligence. Splendid architectural buildings now rose in 
their streets, and the verses of the poets were printed, so 
that the lowly homes of the peasant were rejoiced by them. 
Sculptors wrought for the eyes of the subject as well as 
for those of the lord. A new element had sprung up, 
never heard of in the Carlovingian days. It was the 
Middle Class. The life in the town was much gayer and 
more brilliant even than it is now. ^neas Sylvius, the 
secretary of Frederick III., afterwards Pope Pius II., 
wrote, " One may veritably say that no people in Europe 
live in cleaner, more cheerful cities than the Germans. 
By their commerce they amass great wealth. There is 
no banquet at which the people do not drink from silver 
cups, no dame who does not wear golden ornaments. 
Moreover, the citizens are also soldiers, each one having 
a sort of arsenal in his own house. The boys in this 
country can ride before they can talk, and sit firmly in 
the saddle when the horses are at full speed. The men 
move in their armor without feeling its weight. Verily 
you Germans might be masters of the world, as formerly, 
but for your multitude of rulers." 

In the early part of the fifteenth century, the people 
tried to put a stop to violence by establishing a new tri- 
bunal for dealing with crime. The offender, wherever he 
might hide, was forcibly dragged to light and mercilessly 
condemned. These tribunals were called the '"/V/^w," 
(punishment). The people called it the "Holy Ft'//;;/," 
the object of it being to enforce impartial justice among 
all classes. It held open court for ordinary offences, 
but graver crimes were tried in secret by night. The 
chiefs were called "Free Counts." The headquarters 
of the Vch?n or Vehmgerichte (secret punishment) was in 
Westphalia, but it had branches all over Germany. It 
often happened that a private conversation at a festive 



Poets, Painters, and Customs. 21 5 

board, where wine had loosened men's tongues, was dis- 
closed to the Vclwi by some ill-natured guest, and led to 
betrayal and death. A man to-day might enjoy happi- 
ness and honor, to-morrow he was gone — nobody knew 
where. He had been carried off in the night, never to 
return. The Vchm grew so powerful in Frederick III.'s 
time that it even summoned that monarch before its tri- 
bunal. The fear of it had induced Maximilian and the 
princes to reorganize the Empire ; for as order and jus- 
tice prevailed, the need of such an institution ceased. 
It had become, in the severity of its methods and the 
cruelty of its action, very much such an organization as 
the Vigilance Committees among the early settlers of our 
Western country. In about a century the Vehvi ceased 
to hold its meetings in the cities, but it continued in 
Westphalia as an association similar to the Freemasons. 

The times were getting more and more modern. Among 
the radical improvements Maximilian introduced was the 
postal system and the police service; he also devoted 
much time to artillery, and new forms of cannon were de- 
vised by him which to-day may be seen in the museums 
of Vienna. 

The people of Germany had so many internal interests 
which had been neglected, and they were now so in 
earnest about reconstructing the government, that they 
had not given much attention to the event which proved 
to be so supremely important to us, — the discovery of 
America in 1492. This was a part of the modern inclina- 
tion to research and inquiry which came with the Renais- 
sance. The same enterprising spirit led to the discovery 
of a new route to India by the Cape of Good Hope in 
1498. 

Notwithstanding the new splendors which lay in reach 
of the Hapsburg dynasty, the energy of Maximilian began 



2 1 6 Gcnnany : Her People and Their Story. 

to decline. He was not yet an old man, and his intelli- 
gence was unimpaired; but his life had lost its keenest 
zest. As people say nowadays, he had grown nervous 
under the weight of his many and great schemes. His 
financial difficulties, such troubles as are unknown to 
sovereigns to-day, had harassed him so much that he 
once hired out in the capacity of a private knight for one 
hundred crowns a day, to help Henry VHI. and Julias II. 
drive the French out of Italy. 

In later years Maximilian had among his possessions 
a queer-looking chest, which after his death proved to 
be a coffin. This showed more than anything else how 
morbid his mind had become under his troubles and dis- 
appointments, which at the end were numerous and cruel. 

In 15 15 his younger grandson, Ferdinand, married the 
King of Bohemia's daughter, and thus became heir to 
Hungary and Bohemia. In 15 16 Charles, his eldest 
grandson, became King of Spain, Sicily, and Naples, as 
well as of Burgundy and Flanders, which he already held 
in his right as the great-grandson of Charles the Bold. 
These sons were two of the children whom Margarethe 
of Burgundy had brought up because of the insanity of 
their mother Johanna, who had been crazed by the death 
of her husband Philip. Johanna, before her husband 
Philip was buried, thought him still alive, and waited 
around his casket, hoping that he would awake. 

At the Diet at Augsburg, in 15 18, Maximilian tried 
to force the election of his grandson Charles as his suc- 
cessor; but the Pope objected, and he failed ; for the Pope 
and Francis I. of France carried heavy bribes in their 
pockets, which had wonderful influence in the Diet at 
that time. 

Depressed in spirits, the Emperor left the assembly 
and went to Innsbruck, where he could not be entertained 



poets, Painters, and Customs. 217 

because he had not paid a debt to the city which he had 
owed for a long time; and some say the magistrates of 
Innsbruck would not receive his court because it was 
known to be dissolute and baleful in its influence over 
those with whom it came in contact. 

Maximilian now felt himself physically failing, and 
hastened to the little Tyrolean resort of Wells. Here 
this remarkable man died, January 11, 1519, at the age of 
fifty-nine. He had lived in the Austrian Tyrol two years 
and a half before his death, and requested that he might 
be buried at Neustadt by the side of his brilliant mother, 
Eleanora of Portugal. 

Louis XL, who was a bitter foe to Maximilian, once 
said, " You fool, to scoff at Max ; do you know that when 
the 'Burgomaster' pulls the bell, all Germany springs to 
arms?" for Maximilian was called by the people, "The 
Burgomaster of Augsburg. " 

When Maximilian left Augsburg for the last time, after 
the disappointing Diet held there, he said, " Farewell, 
beloved Augsburg ! May the blessing of God rest upon 
thee and all thy pious burghers ! Many a pleasant hour 
have I passed within thy walls; now I shall behold thee 
no more." Scarcely had he left the town, when Luther, 
the great Reformer, entered it for his famous interview 
with Cardinal Cajetan. Two of Maximilian's last acts 
were to give Luther a safe conduct, and to request the 
cardinal to " be gentle with the learned monk of Witten- 
berg. " 



2i8 Ger'tnany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

CHARLES V. LUTHER AND THE REFORMATION. 

1519— 1521 A.D. 

THIS " Monk of Wittenberg" was a greater potentate 
than any who had sat on the imperial throne, and 
he accomplished a mightier work than any political ruler 
had ever done. This man, who defeated the Church of 
Rome and feared no monarch in the world, was the chosen 
leader of the German people. He had sprung from the 
lowest ranks, and had begged for his daily bread from 
door to door. His father was a wood-cutter who lived on 
the edge of the Hartz Mountains in Eisleben of Thuringia. 

This same Martin Luther was born in the village of 
Eisleben, the loth of November, 1483; and after picking 
up what little education he could in his native town, his 
father had sent him to the Franciscan school at Eisenach. 
Thence he went to Erfurt, and struggled in the University 
until he became a monk. Here he was obliged, for the 
purpose of discipline, to ask alms even at the door of his 
companions and friends. He had done the same thing 
from necessity at Eisenach, and it was there that Frau 
Cotta found the poor boy begging and singing in the 
streets. Becoming interested in him, on account of his 
melodious voice, she invited him to live with her. Frau 
Cotta's house is still to be seen at Eisenach, and there 
visitors may see the room which Luther occupied. 

When Frederick the Wise, the good Elector of Saxony, 
founded the University at Wittenberg, Martin Luther 



Luther and the Rcforviation. 219 

became one of its professors. During this time John 
Tetzel came to the neighborhood selling indulgences. 
He recommended their purchase in such a blasphemous 
way, that Martin Luther's soul was stirred. He deter- 
mined to protest; and on the 31st of October, 1517, he 
nailed to the door of the University at Wittenberg a 
paper called the " Ninety-five Theses," in which he chal- 
lenged the whole system on which the sale of indulgences 
was founded. 

The great excitement in reference to the sale of these 
indulgences had come about in this way. Seven years 
before, Luther had visited Rome, and seen the corruption 
of the Church in the lives of the monks and nuns, as well 
as in that of the Pope and cardinals ; so, when he had 
turned from the deplorable conception of his own sins to 
the atonement offered in the sacrifice of Christ, he deter- 
mined that his life should be spent only for the glory of 
God and the good of his fellow-men. 

Pope Leo X., who was famous for his luxurious habits 
and love of art, found that his income was in itself insuf- 
ficient for his wants and expenses, and the Church also 
needed money with which to go on with the building of the 
Cathedral of St. Peter's in Rome. Therefore, he deter- 
mined to enrich the treasury by issuing a series of abso- 
lutions for all forms of crime, including murder, perjury, 
etc., in its list. The cost of these indulgences was gradu- 
ated to the nature of the crime. They sold these absolu- 
tions, as publishers oftentimes dispose of their books, by 
means of agents, or as inventors sell royalties. The 
Archbishop of Mayence bought the right of selling in- 
dulgences in Germany, and appointed as his agent this 
Tetzel, a Dominican monk. Tetzel went through the 
country like any peddler, offering for sale the pardons of 
the Roman Church for every offence, from that of the or- 



220 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

dinary sneak-thief to that of the deepest crime. He did 
a thorough business, and men even bought forgiveness in 
advance for crimes they intended to commit when they 
could make it convenient and profitable to themselves. 
Tetzel imposed upon the credulity of the people to such 
a degree that he palmed off a feather in his possession as 
one coming from the Angel Gabriel's wing. 

The last hours of this poor criminal were heart-rending 
in the extreme. When on his death-bed he was offered 
consolation by his brethren, he turned his face to the wall, 
only saying, "God have mercy upon me a sinner." At 
last a knock at the door announced that a messenger had 
brought a letter from Luther. In it the great Reformer 
spoke only words of comfort, and pardon through Jesus 
Christ. Then Tetzel's eyes were opened, and he saw the 
gospel in its true light; and with his last breath exclaim- 
ing, " The night is gone, the morning breaks," this igno- 
rant and deluded man passed into the presence of his 
God. 

This was the reason that the " Theses " were printed, 
and nailed up over the door of the University (or as 
some say the palace-church doors). Copies of it were 
spread all over Germany, so that there began to be a 
great controversy in every part of the land. Maximilian, 
who was then alive, took some interest in it ; but the inter- 
nal disturbances of the kingdom, and the effort to save 
the Empire from destruction, had occupied much of the 
time of the rulers, and latterly the Emperor's desire for 
the succession of his grandson had caused these religious 
matters to be secondary in his mind. 

But the times were now ripe for Luther's work. The 
religious persecutions in France, in Savoy, and the works 
of the disciples of Wycliffe in England, and still more 
the burning of Huss and Jerome, together with the white 



Luther and the Reformation. 221 

heat of the people at the time of the Hussite war, had 
brought the spirit of the Reformation home to the hearts 
of the masses, and had made their hopes and feelings 
in sympathy with the conception that the Bible was the 
highest authority and the only source of religious truth. 

One day as Luther was looking over some books in the 
University library at Erfurt, he had come upon a volume 
he had never before seen. It was chained to a pillar, and 
was written in Latin, and he was surprised to find that 
what he had already read of the Gospels and Epistles was 
only a small part of the Scriptures; the work he had then 
found was the entire Bible, which up to that time had 
been carefully kept from the eyes of the people. A little 
later, however, Erasmus published the whole of the New 
Testament in Greek, with a Commentary; and Reuchlin 
soon wrote a Hebrew grammar, by which the study of the 
Bible was greatly facilitated. On account of this, and 
the progress of letters during the fifteenth century, and the 
increased dissemination of the ancient languages through 
the discovery and use of the art of printing, the Book was 
in a short time placed in the hands of the common 
people. All this had prepared their hearts to receive 
the truth. 

Luther was styled a heretic, and threatened with the 
fate of Huss. He wrote a defence, and scattered it abroad 
in the form of pamphlets, which were eagerly read by the 
populace, so that his followers increased rapidly, and 
Leo X. summoned him to Rome ; though afterwards Leo 
consented that, instead of this, Luther should be present 
at Augsburg before the Papal Legate, Cardinal Cajetan. 
The latter demanded that Luther should retract; but 
Luther for the first time publicly declared, " The command 
of the Pope can only be openly respected as the voice of 
God when it is not in conflict with the Holy Scriptures." 



222 Germany : Her People a7id Their Story. 

The cardinal, after examining him, said, "I will have no 
more to do with that German beast with the deep eyes 
and whimsical speculation in his head." And Luther 
said of the cardinal, " He knows no more about the Word 
than a donkey knows of harp-playing." 

The people at this Diet, remembering how treacherously 
Huss had been dealt with, were afraid for Luther's life. 
The Vicar-General of the " Augustines," who was still 
Luther's friend, fearing that he would be seized, led him 
out of the assembly through a small door, and at daybreak 
gave him a horse, and bade him God-speed. When Luther 
reached Wittenberg, Frederick the Wise, having been 
ordered to give him up, began to waver; for the Pope 
declared that Luther was assailing the doctrines of the 
Church, and that he must be stopped. Then Melanchthon, 
Justus Jonas, and other distinguished men connected with 
the University, exerted their influence, and the Elector 
refused the demand. For the times were advanced. It 
was now a hundred years since the fires were kindled 
which the memory of the martyrdom of Huss and the 
printed pages illuminated by his spirit had kept ever 
burning brightly. 

This was near the close of Maximilian's life; and, as 
has been mentioned, that monarch had sent a letter to the 
Pope proposing to arrange the difficulty. Leo X. then 
asked his legate, a Saxon nobleman named Karl von Mel- 
titz, to meet Luther. The legate afterwards said that he 
would not undertake to remove Luther from Germany, 
even with the help of ten thousand soldiers; for he had 
found ten men for him where one was for the Pope. In 
fact, all the ruling parties began to be afraid of Luther; 
he was too strong and men's minds at last were ready for 
the truth ; therefore the legate prayed Luther to pause, as 
he was destroying the peace of the Church. It is said. 



Luther and the Rcforinatioit. 223 

on doubtful authority, that Luther finally promised to keep 
silent provided the Pope remained silent also. In any 
case, he no doubt knew that what followed was sure to 
happen ; that is, the antagonists could not keep still. They 
soon challenged Luther to discussion in Leipsic, where 
he declared his views even more clearly than before. 

By this time the struggle had affected all Germany; the 
middle classes and smaller nobles being on Luther's side, 
while the priests and reigning princes were against him. 
He now wrote other pamphlets to defend himself from 
the misrepresentations, which were read by tens of thou- 
sands. Leo X. ordered all of Luther's writings to be 
burned; he excommunicated all who believed his doc- 
trine, and again summoned Luther to Rome. 

The popular excitement reached its highest pitch on 
the loth of December, 1520, when a company of pro- 
fessors and students of the University kindled outside 
the gates of AMttenberg a fire, into which Luther himself 
threw all the books of canonical law, numerous writings 
in defence of the Pope, and the Papal Bull itself, with the 
words, " As thou hast tormented the Lord and his saints, 
so may eternal flames torment and consume thee." 

The poet laureate at Maximilian's court, Ulric of Hut- 
ten, now openly declared for Luther; and Baron Franz 
Sickingen offered him his castle in which to hide, Fred- 
erick the Wise no longer hesitated, and Luther's faith in 
the steadfastness and uprightness of his cause became 
firmer and purer. 

Francis L of France, and Charles, "Don Carlos," King 
of Spain, Sicily, and the Spanish possessions, were pres- 
ent at the election of a new Emperor to succeed Maxi- 
milian. Charles, who was the grandson of the deceased 
Emperor and Archduke of Austria, was heir to Burgundy, 
and to the Netherlands also; consequently he had the 



224 Germa7iy : Her People and Their Story. 

prestige which the authority over all these kingdoms 
gave him, while Francis I. had only the influence which 
the golden bribes he sent throughout Germany brought 
him. 

The Electors were distrustful of both of the candi- 
dates, and voted for Frederick the Wise of Saxony. Un- 
derstanding the burdens which the rule at such a time 
would bring, the latter refused the crown. Thinking, 
however, that Charles of Spain was the most suitable 
candidate, on account of his other royal possessions, and 
also because he was the hereditary heir, Frederick the 
Wise cast his vote for him, although he had previously 
refused any portion of the bribes, which amounted to 
twelve million thalers. Finally the election of Charles 
was secured, and the next year he was crowned at Aix- 
la-Chapelle as Charles V, He reigned thirty-six years, 
but remained always a Spanish gentleman, never learn- 
ing to speak the German language fluently. It is said 
the country did not recover from the crime of electing 
Charles V. for three hundred years. 

Luther seems to have been a man of worldly wisdom 
with all the rest; for as soon as he heard that Charles 
had been elected Emperor he wrote to him, and asked for 
his support, begging that he might be heard. In reply, 
Charles sent Luther a formal invitation to be present at 
the Diet of Worms, which had been called to arrange the 
Imperial Court in the ten districts, and also to institute 
measures for driving the French out of Lombardy, which 
Francis I. had seized. At the same time the Emperor 
gave Luther a "safe conduct," as Sigismund had done for 
Huss a century before. Luther thought it a call from 
God, and contrary to the expectation of Charles, who did 
not understand the invincible courage of the great man, 
decided to go. His journey to Worms was a triumph. 



LiitJicr and tJic Reformation. 225 

Wherever he passed on his way from Wittenberg, the 
people flocked to see him as though he were some royal 
personage or a most eminent statesman. A soldier came 
up to him saying, " Are you the man who is to over- 
throw Popedom ? How do you expect to do it ? " Luther 
replied, ''I rely on Almighty God." The soldier an- 
swered, "I serve the Emperor Charles, but your Master 
is greater than mine." 

As he came near to Worms, he was continually urged 
by his friends, who remembered so well the fate of Huss, 
to turn back. "You are going to the stake," they said; 
to which Luther replied, "Though there were as many 
devils in the city as tiles on the roofs, yet would I go." 
In an open wagon he entered the city, dressed as a 
monk. 

On the appointed day, the 17th of April, 152 1, as 
Luther entered the hall of the Diet, he started back at 
the sight of the imposing assembly, the splendid cos- 
tumes, and the malignant glances turned towards him. 
At this moment the old veteran, General Freudsburg, 
touched his shoulder, and said, "Little monk, little 
monk, you are marching to a battle such as myself and 
many a leader in the most desperate conflict have never 
experienced. But if you know you are right, and your 
thoughts are just, and if you are sure of your cause, go 
forward in God's name, and be of good cheer; he will 
never forsake you." It is a singular circumstance that 
this very Freudsburg afterwards died in the service of 
the Emperor. 

When Luther finally entered the hall, Charles V., look- 
ing at him at a distance, said, "That monk will never 
make a heretic of me." 

That was a wonderful scene at the Assembly of Worms, 
when this bashful young monk confronted the splendid 



226 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

Imperial Court and the most powerful monarch of the 
globe. Beside the Emperor was his brother, the Archduke 
Ferdinand, who finally became his successor. Grouped 
around these were the scowling cardinals, Alexander and 
Colonna, representing the Pope, and the Archbishop of 
Mayence, who, with Tetzel, had sold the indulgences. 
The old Duke of Alva was there, and his little son, after- 
wards the cruel Alva, then a boy of eleven years. There 
were six German Electoral princes, twenty-eight dukes, 
eleven margraves, four counts, and thirty bishops. The 
hall was crowded to overflowing. There were also in the 
Diet some friends of Luther, among them his protector, 
Frederick the Wise of Saxony, and Philip of Hesse. 
Around the building there were five thousand persons, 
who threatened a revolutionary outbreak, among them 
Ulrich von Hutten and Franz von Sickingen. Both of 
the latter were bold champions of political and religious 
liberty. 

This poor monk, who had been saved from starvation 
by Frau Cotta in the streets of Eisenach, and had after- 
wards determined to break the chain of the Bible which 
he had found in the University library at Erfurt, was 
now called upon to explain the grounds of his belief. 
Many thought he would retract; some were convinced 
that by his impetuosity he would counteract the effect of 
his great faith ; no one was prepared for his calm dignity 
and the firmness of his demeanor. He explained the 
grounds of his belief both in Latin and German, and 
closed with these words: "Unless I should be confuted 
by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures and by clear and 
convincing reason, I cannot, and will not retract, because 
there is neither wisdom nor safety in acting against con- 
science. Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God 
help me. Amen." To the people a recantation had 



Luther and the Reformation. 227 

seemed the only way to escape the fate of Huss. The 
Emperor had hoped that this Diet would terminate the 
contemptible religious quarrel; but instead of retraction, 
Luther had made an irrevocable reiteration. This most 
powerful sovereign thought he had entered into a contro- 
versy with the weakest of his subjects, but he had been 
overcome. One of our historians has said " Luther was 
not before the Diet, the Diet was before Luther." 



228 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

LUTHER AT THE WARTBURG — PROGRESS OF THE 
REFORMATION. 

1521—1534 A.D. 

CHARLES demanded without discussion that Luther 
should be prosecuted as a heretic as soon as the 
twenty-one days of his " safe conduct " had expired. He 
was urged by his partisans in Rome not to respect his 
promise; but he answered, "I do not mean to blush like 
Sigismund." The Emperor at twenty-one had not lost all 
sense of honor, but in his false and superstitious old age 
he was sorry for this one of the few acts of his life which 
had sprung from an honorable motive. 

When Luther left the Diet, his friends were confirmed 
in their confidence by his sincerity and the noble stand 
he had taken. Frederick the Wise and Landgraf Philip 
of Hesse, who afterwards suffered such humiliation at 
Charles V.'s hands, walked at his side. Eric of Bruns- 
wick sent him a jug of beer. 

The last act of the Diet of Worms was to issue an edict 
forbidding any further propagation of the new doctrine. 
Having little confidence in the promises of the opposing 
party, Luther's friends formed a plot to make a false 
arrest, capturing him in the Thuringian forest. This 
was carried out on a spot near the place where a sapling 
now stands, beside the trunk of an old beech-tree; it is 
called " Luther's Buche." A monument marks the spot, 
an inscription on which tells of his capture, which was 



Lnthcj' at tJic Wartbnrg. 229 

effected by four knights in disguise. He was placed upon 
a horse, and carried away to the Wartburg Castle. He 
remained in security on this beautiful mountain-top over- 
looking Eisenach, where he went by the name of ''Junker 
George " (Squire George). The room in which he lived 
here is kept much as he left it. It is bare and uninvit- 
ing; but sightseers visit it to-day with a keener interest 
than that with which they enter the palaces of kings. 
Here he undertook his translation of the Bible, and 
gave to the world the pure German language ; for he 
wrote it in the High German dialect, since called Hack 
Deutsch. 

The news went through Germany that Luther had been 
murdered, and for more than a year the outside world 
never heard of him again ; but no one regarded the proc- 
lamation that his writings should not be read, and that all 
his pamphlets should be burned. 

Charles V. transferred the government of Germany to 
his brother Ferdinand, and occupied himself with his other 
possessions, and in carrying on various wars with foreign 
nations. 

In the spring of 1522, in his seclusion, Luther heard 
that a new doctrine was being preached at Wittenberg, 
and that the enemies of the Reformation were pointing 
to a fanatical sect called the Anabaptists as a natural 
outcome of his doctrines. He left the Wartburg, and 
rode alone in disguise, as a man-at-arms, to Wittenberg, 
where even his fellow-worker Melanchthon did not recog- 
nize him. The latter had wavered because he did not 
quite understand what this movement indicated ; and he 
had waited for Luther, declaring that he alone could dis- 
cern whether the spirits of the new prophets were good or 
evil. Luther at first had regarded Melanchthon rather 
disparagingly, for the latter was small and personally un- 



230 Gevniany: Her People and Their Story. 

prepossessing ; but as the finer qualities of Melanchtlion 
became more apparent, an intimate friendship ensued. 

Luther began immediately to preach with great elo- 
quence against the fanaticism, and in a few days the sect 
had lost ground. 

In 1523 Saxony, Hesse, Brunswick, and the cities of 
Frankfort, Strasburg, Nuremberg, Magdeburg, the Augus- 
tine Order of Monks, some of the Franciscans, and a 
great many priests adopted Luther's doctrine. Through 
the deleterious influence of the Anabaptists the Peasants' 
War broke out. The spirit of revolution was aroused 
among the common people ; and they demanded privi- 
leges which were really their rights, but which for cen- 
turies they never obtained. They expected Luther would 
support them ; but although he pitied them, he thought 
too much of the great enterprise in which he was engaged 
to encourage a spirit of revolt ; for it was the lifelong 
desire of his soul to keep separate the cause of God and 
the political intrigues of the State. 

In 1525 the war became dreadful in its operations, and 
very much like the strife which went on after the martyr- 
dom of Huss, frightful barbarities being committed. This 
shocking movement extended through Central Germany 
to Westphalia and into some parts of Thuringia. The 
old castle on Mount Staufen in Swabia was levelled to 
the ground, and the whole province laid waste ; ten thou- 
sand of men, women, and children were put to the sword, 
and the progress of the Reformation was hindered many 
scores of years. Hundreds of castles and convents were 
burned, and the greater part of Germany was literally in 
flames. The emblem of their banner was the fragment of 
a plough and one of the shoes (Bundschuh) usuaWy worn 
by the peasants. Even Luther urged the princes to try 
to stamp them out in self-defence. 



Progress of the Reformation. 231 

Towards the close of the year 1525 the Peasants' War 
was ended by the battle of Frankenhausen, and the death 
of their leader, Thomas Miinzer. Hundreds of those who 
had been engaged in it were beheaded ; the roads were 
lined with wretched victims dying on gibbets. One hun- 
dred and fifty thousand peasants had died in battle ; and 
many of the principal citizens, who had joined the rebel- 
lion, were put to death. The condition of the peasants 
was now worse than before. 

The stand Luther took against the revolution intensi- 
fied the friendship of those who had favored him before ; 
but he did not mean by this attitude to try to strengthen 
himself against Papal power, neither did he curry the 
favor of the Emperor himself. Several years after this, 
in 1534, he brought his translation of the Bible to a com- 
pletion, assisted by Melanchthon and one or two other 
eminent men. In translating the Old Testament, he took 
great pains to find words as simple and strong as those 
of the Hebrew writers. He frequented the market-places 
and all merry festivities, the houses of birth, marriages, and 
death, to learn how the common people expressed them- 
selves. He enlisted his friends, asking them to do the 
same thing, and to make a note of any characteristic 
phrase; "for," he said, "I cannot use words heard in 
castles and courts in a book that all people have the 
privilege of reading for themselves." In 1530 he wrote : 
"I have exerted myself in translating to give pure and 
clear German. And it has verily happened that we have 
sought and questioned a fortnight, and even three or four 
weeks, for a single word, and yet it was not always found. 
In Job we so labored, Philip Melanchthon, Aurogallus, and 
I, that in four days we sometimes barely finished three 
lines." By all this pains he not only served Christianity, 
but created a new German tongue. 



232 Germany: Her People and TJieir Story. 

Frederick the Wise died before the battle of Franken- 
hausen, the Peasants' War having sadly clouded his last 
days. He was a steady protector of Luther to the end. 
On his death-bed he sent for the latter ; but Luther was 
among the Hartz mountains, trying to soften the horrors 
of the peasant insurrection. In his closing moments 
Frederick the Wise declared that he had no hope except 
in the Son of God. The people of Saxony wept, and said, 
" God have mercy on us ; we have lost our father." 

Charles V. in these days left Luther alone. He realized 
his influence with the resolute German people, and per- 
haps at this early period of his reign he remembered his 
pledge to the Electors, not to encroach on German liberty, 
to reform church abuses, to put no one under the ban 
without a hearing, and to declare no laws without the 
Electors' consent. He has been praised for his consid- 
erate treatment of Luther at this time ; but the course he 
pursued in the Netherlands, where fifty thousand "here- 
tics " are estimated to have perished, shows that his won- 
derful consideration for Luther was brought about through 
fear of his power. 

Pope Leo X. died by poison he had prepared for an- 
other, in less than two years after Luther's appearance at 
the Diet of Worms. The Church was so corrupt in his 
time, just before the Reformation, that it was said the 
priests could not perform their duties at the altar without 
laughing in each other's faces. Pope Leo even said, " We 
know how useful the fable of Christ has been to us." He 
had ruled nine years, having squandered immense treas- 
ures, and he left enormous debts. Leo X.'s court was the 
centre of art and science ; Michael Angelo and Raphael 
did some of their best work in his time. His reign was 
called "The Golden Age of Italian Art and Literature" — 
"The Golden Age of Leo X," The historian Ranke said 



Progress of the Reformation. 233 

of him, " Nothing was permitted to disturb the current 
of Leo's enjoyments." But after his death the Roman 
population insulted his body as it was borne to the grave. 

Leo X. was followed by Hadrian VI., who had been the 
tutor of Charles V. in his youth. Hadrian VL was the 
most perfect model of virtue ever seen in the Papal chair. 
He tried to reform some of the corruptions of the Church, 
and cried out against the abominations which had found 
their way there. He died in less than two years of a 
broken heart, discouraged by his vain efforts at reform. 

Hadrian VL was followed by Clement VIL, a nephew 
of Leo X. At the very beginning he tried to repress 
Luther's doctrines. Notwithstanding the dogmatism of 
the Pope, Philip of Hesse, Albert of Brandenburg, the 
Duke of Brunswick and Mecklenburg, the Counts of 
Mansfeld and Anhalt, and the city of Magdeburg, formed 
an alliance at Torgau in 1526. At the Diet held in Speyer 
the same year, the party of the Reformation, supported by 
the alliance just mentioned, was so strong that no decree 
could be passed against them, because the hearts and 
minds of the people were ready for the support of the 
cause ; it was like the ripening of full-grown fruit when 
the sun of heaven shines bright and clear upon it. Ac- 
cordingly the organization of the Christian Church, which 
had already been adopted in Saxony, spread over all of 
Northern Germany, and included the abolition of the 
Monastic Order. 

The celibacy of the priests was abolished, divine ser- 
vice was celebrated in the language of the country, and 
the communion was given entire to the people. The 
instruction of adults and children in the truths of Chris- 
tianity became obligatory, and the former possessions of 
the Church were given up to the State. Luther desired, 
while Melanchthon opposed, the union of episcopal au- 



234 Gcnnany: Her People and Their Story. 

thority with political power in the person of the reigning 
princes. 

Luther set the example of giving up celibacy by marry- 
ing Katherine von Bora, one of the nuns who had been 
taken from the convent in an empty beer-barrel. The 
sanctity of marriage had been among his strongest con- 
victions, and he had long urged his friends to take this 
step. About the year 1523 a number of nuns had fled 
from their solitary life, persuaded of its unnatural charac- 
ter ; and being rejected by their own families, they came 
to Luther for aid and guidance. He found them homes, 
and sought husbands for the deserving. Among these 
nuns was Katherine von Bora, of a noble family in Meis- 
sen. Luther had made repeated efforts to secure her 
hand for some friend of his; but after one or two failures, 
on inquiring the reason, he learned that she would not 
entertain the thought of marrying, unless it were the 
Wittenberg preacher, Nicholas of Amsdorf, or the great 
Dr. Luther himself. Luther did not hesitate an hour, 
but went with the painter Cranach to Katherine, plighted 
her his troth, and invited his friends to the marriage 
feast. Although there had long been a rumor that Luther 
was warmly disposed towards the fugitive, he said of the 
occurrence, '' I am not in love, or governed by passion ; 
but I am fond of her." He was rewarded by twenty-one 
years of uninterrupted happiness. 

Meanwhile Charles V. had been absent from Germany, 
having retired after declaring Luther a heretic at the 
Diet of Worms. War and contention with other nations, 
with opposition from many of the Popes, had been his 
almost constant occupation. Pope Clement VH. feared 
more and more the increasing power of Charles in Italy. 
It was then that the old General Freudsburg, who had 
electrified Luther as he entered the Worms Assembly, 



Progress of tJie Rcforination. 235 

enlisted on the Emperor's side. He, with the Emperor's 
united forces, marched upon Rome. But Freudsburg 
never reached the Eternal City. A mutiny broke out 
in his army; the men clamored for pay; and their wild 
behavior gave Freudsburg a fit of apoplexy, of which he 
died. 

Rome, having been stormed by the forces of Charles V., 
suffered more than through the sacking of the Goths at 
the time of Alaric, or afterwards, when, having been de- 
stroyed by the Vandals, so many of its works of art 
perished. The Pope was taken prisoner, though Charles 
finally liberated him. Six thousand men were massacred, 
the city plundered, and many valuable manuscripts, docu- 
ments, letters, that could never be replaced, were de- 
stroyed, and a large part of the town was burned to the 
ground. The officers, Avith shouts of triumph, took pos- 
session of the Vatican, and lighted their watch-fires in the 
gilded halls. The soldiers clothed themselves in the 
Pope's robes, strutting about the town in the scarlet man- 
tles and hats of the cardinals, while one of them even put 
on the Pope's crown. Out of derision they held a meet- 
ing, and elected Luther as a new Pope. 

After this Emperor and Pope came to a full under- 
standing ; a truce called the " Ladies' Peace " being ar- 
ranged by the mother of the King of France, and by 
Margarethe, Charles V. 's aunt. Later, in 1530, Charles 
was crowned King of Lombardy and Emperor of Rome 
at Bologna. Charles met the Pope after the coronation 
at a feast, and there betrothed his daughter to the Pope's 
son. Thereupon Charles bound himself to uproot Luther's 
doctrine in Germany ; ior he had all his life labored under 
a fear of Papal authority ; and besides, on account of 
the duplicity of his character, he did not understand that 
the simplicity of the gospel, as brought out in Luther's 



236 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

doctrine, was calculated to purge and build up a nation ; 
neither did he comprehend that this perfect rule of life, 
being adapted to the wants of the multitude, was sure to 
make a government reliable and prosperous. 

In Austria, Wiirtemberg, and Bavaria the persecutions 
agreed upon by Charles and the Pope had already com- 
menced; many persons had been hung and burned at the 
stake for professing the new doctrine. Ferdinand, the 
brother of Charles and King of Bohemia, who had always 
held the government under the Emperor, called a Diet at 
Speyer to consider the old troublesome question of ward- 
ing off the Turks. At this Diet the Catholics were out 
in full force, and passed the same decree which originated 
with Emperor and Pope, outlawing Luther and his doc- 
trines as they had done once before at the Diet of Worms. 
But the forces of the Reformation were now stronger 
among the princes ; and headed by Saxony, Brandenburg, 
Hesse, and fifteen imperial cities, they joined in a solemn 
"Protest" against this measure, asserting that the point 
in dispute could only be settled by a universal Council 
called for that purpose. From that day the name of 
" Protestant " was given to both the followers of Luther 
and the Swiss Reformers under Zwingli, the latter being 
closely connected with the Reformation in Switzerland. 
Zwingli, born in St. Gall, Switzerland, in 1484, resembled 
Luther in undaunted courage and in familiarity v/ith the 
Bible, the only difference in their doctrine being on the 
unimportant point of administering the Eucharist. 

Philip of Hesse, an ardent supporter of the Reforma- 
tion, was anxious that the Swiss and German branches 
of the Protestant party should unite so that they might 
encounter together any new dangers. Luther, however, 
was too much alarmed lest the religious struggle should 
get into politics, and he felt that by joining with Zwingli 



Progress of the Reformation. 237 

he might becomed involved in the League of Protestant 
princes at Torgau. He was now busy preparing a Cate- 
chism and hymns for the worship which would be neces- 
sary when the organization of the Protestant Church was 
completed ; therefore he felt that he had no time to attend 
to other work. 

Meanwhile things in Germany had not been standing 
still, as Charles V. found, when, in 1530, after nine years' 
absence, he established his court at Innsbruck, and called 
a Diet to meet at Augsburg the 20th of June. Luther, 
being under the ban, could not be present ; but Melanch- 
thon was there, with many professors and clergymen of 
the Protestant Church. Luther established himself at 
Coburg, and there wrote his immortal hymn, '''' Ein fcste 
Burg ist uJiscr Gott^^ (A mighty fortress is our God). 

Charles V. at last consented to the reading of a Con- 
fession of Faith which had been drawn up by the Protes- 
tant princes and cities, the import of which was the same 
as the Protestant creed of to-day, the chief idea being 
"Christ our only Saviour, and justification by faith." 

The general impression was favorable to Protestantism, 
and the princes who had signed the Confession deter- 
mined to maintain it at every risk. It was the " Augsburg 
Confession," and was the foundation of the Lutheran 
Church. Charles had only permitted the reading of the 
Confession in the morning in the Bishop's Chapel, for he 
was not willing that the assembly in the great hall should 
be influenced by the effect it might produce ; but the win- 
dows being open, the people all over the building, and the 
crowd of thousands outside, could hear it read. It was a 
great concession on the part of the proud ruler, and a sig- 
nificant comment on the advance Protestantism had made 
since he was in Germany nine years before. Charles had 
commanded that the Latin copy alone should be read ; 



238 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

but the Elector, John of Saxony, remarked, " We are 
in Germany on German soil. We hope your Imperial 
Majesty will not prohibit our using our own language." 
Charles was obliged to yield. After the Confession had 
been read, persons were heard to say, '' It is reasonable 
that the abuses of the Church should be corrected ; the 
Lutherans are right, for our spiritual authorities have 
carried it with too high a hand." 

The Emperor ordered a refutation of the doctrine to be 
prepared by the theologians of the Church, at the same 
time forbidding the Protestants to see it, or to make a 
reply, because, he said, the abuses of the Roman Church 
would be corrected by the Pope and himself; and he 
declared that the Protestants must return instantly into 
the fold. Many Protestant princes left the Diet before 
it adjourned, among them Philip of Hesse, who had long 
been prepared for war. This seriously alarmed the 
Catholic party, and they prevailed upon Charles to at- 
tempt a reconciliation. 

More than half of Germany had seceded from the 
Church of Rome; and, when Charles V. procured the 
election, as King of Germany, of his ever-dutiful brother 
Ferdinand, who was favorable to the Reformation, Ba- 
varia also joined the Protestant princes; but the Impe- 
rial Courts in the ten districts were still in the hands 
of the Catholics, and they were instructed to suppress 
Protestant worship. From this arose the " Smalkaldic 
League," which met at the town of Smalkalden in Thu- 
ringia, March 29, 1531, and took an oath to suppress for 
six months the decree concerning Protestant worship. 
The Emperor declared the ban against the League, and 
made preparations to put it into effect. Luther, however, 
still declared, " I rely on Almighty God." When Charles 
was about to settle the question by force, a new terror 



Progress of the Reformation. 239 

seized the Germans. The Turks had reappeared in Hun- 
gary; the Sultan was marcliing upon Vienna with an im- 
mense army. Charles could not fight the Turks and the 
Protestants at the same time; and he became so alarmed 
that he concluded a League of Peace. 

In this invasion the Protestants furnished a quota of 
troops whicli amounted to eighty thousand men. The 
Turks were defeated, the siege of Vienna raised, and all 
of Hungary would have been reconquered but for the 
unpopularity of Ferdinand among the Catholic princes. 
The war ended greatly to the advantage of Charles, who 
had penetrated into France so far that Paris trembled 
and Francis I. was afraid. The latter made a treaty to 
assist the Emperor against the Turks and against the 
Protestants as well. This was a critical time for the 
Reformation ; for Charles would then, no doubt, have car- 
ried out extreme measures against the Lutherans had not 
Pope Clement VH., although he hated the Protestants, 
refused to support the Emperor, being afraid that a vic- 
tory over them would strengthen too much Charles's 
cause. He feared the Reformation less than the Em- 
peror's power. 

The Religious Peace, made at the time of the opening 
of the late invasion, had favored the spread of the Refor- 
mation; and cities and principalities were continually 
joining the Smalkaldic League. In 1534 Wiirtemberg was 
conquered by Philip of Hesse, and added to the League; 
the exiled Duke Ulric, who was reinstated, became a 
Protestant. The new faith continued to spread in Den- 
mark, Sweden, and Holland, as well as in Germany; 
and the antagonistic princes in many of these countries 
were succeeded on their death by their Protestant sons. 
The League, which had done so much for the cause, was 
renewed for another ten years. 



240 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Luther's death. — close of the reformation. — 
abdication of charles v. 

1546—1556 A.D. 

CHARLES V. had too much to do in his wars with 
the Barbary States and with France to circumvent 
the foundation of the Protestant Church, and it became 
an established institution tliroughout Germany for all 
time. 

A Diet met at Nuremberg, and assured equal rights 
to the Protestants in the Imperial Courts, promising that 
they should be let alone altogether until a meeting of 
the free Council of the Church. In 1544 Francis I. gave 
up his claim in Lombardy, Naples, Flanders, and Artois. 
The Emperor made a treaty with him, relinquishing a part 
of Burgundy, on condition that Francis should unite with 
him against the Protestants and Turks. But Charles, wish- 
ing to preserve a semblance of fidelity to his recent treaty 
with the Protestants, asked Pope Paul III. to call an Ecu- 
menical Council — that is a council of the whole Church. 
One hundred and thirty years before the Catholic Church 
itself had begun to consider reform, but meanwhile the 
Protestant Reformation had grown so powerful that only 
a conciliatory course could settle the difficulty. 

Luther's wise leadership in the Reformation was ac- 
knowledged by all, and he was consulted by princes and 
clergymen, by scholars and jurists, and by the common 
people at large. He was always for peace — peace among 



Luther s Death. 241 

the Protestant princes, and between them and the Catho- 
lics ; but now it began to be impressed on his mind that 
peace was impossible with the existing government and 
the present arrogant Emperor. He prayed that it might 
last while he lived; for he felt himself gradually breaking 
down under his labors and anxieties, although at the be- 
ginning his constitution had been very strong. He had 
much bodily suffering and mental depression ; but his 
faith was buoyed up when he saw the great work accom- 
plished for God, and he knew that the achievement was 
his. He felt that he had been chosen of God, and in 
accordance with his rigid doctrine, he believed he was 
known in heaven and in hell. 

In January, 1546, he was called to Eisleben to adjust a 
dispute about an inheritance; and it was there, after 
settling the controversy, and preaching a few times to 
the people of his native town, that he was suddenly taken 
ill. From hour to hour he grew weaker, but spent his 
time repeating passages from the Bible in German and 
Latin. After midnight, his two sons. Doctor Jonas, his 
fellow-laborer, and the Countess of Mansfeld being 
present. Dr. Jonas asked him if he acknowledged Christ 
as the Son of God and his Redeemer; for it used to be 
considered necessary to know the state of mind of the 
dying at the last moment, in order to understand the 
final destiny of the soul. Luther answered in a strong, 
clear voice, "Yes." Then he folded his hands, and 
with a sigh breathed his last. This was the i8th of Feb- 
ruary, 1546. 

The body of Luther was carried to Wittenberg, start- 
ing out with a procession led by the Count of Mansfeld 
and a body of fifty horsemen. It was joined by numbers 
of princes, counts, townspeople, and peasants, ready to do 
honor to the greatest man who had been upon the stage 



242 Germany : Her People and TJicir Story. 

since the Holy Roman Empire commenced. As the cor- 
te'ge passed, the bells were tolled in every village; and 
the population, consisting of matrons, maidens, and little 
children, all clothed in mourning, bewailed the great Re- 
former with cries and lamentations as their friend and 
benefactor. Funeral chants were sung, and sometimes 
the verses Luther himself had written and taught; among 
them were ^'' Ein feste Burg'''' and '''' Mit Fried iind Freud 
Ich fahr dahin " (With peace and joy I journey hence). 
In Halle, when they tried to sing, De Frqfie?tdis, an eye- 
witness says, "It was rather wept than sung," so great 
was the grief of all. On the 22d of February, Luther 
was buried at Wittenberg, the scene of so much of his 
labor and so many of his trials. They laid him away 
with all the honors of a conqueror, the authorities and 
managers of the University sparing no pains to show him 
respect. 

No idea of the treachery and selfishness of Charles V. 
had been entertained in Luther's lifetime. The latter's 
death temporarily crippled the Protestant supporters, and 
removed the fear with which his great character had 
inspired the enemy. It was, also, the darkest time for the 
Reformation, because the Emperor, relieved of his for- 
eign wars, haj more time to devote to the Church. 

The great Council of Trent declared against the Prot- 
estants, who now had forty thousand troops in the field; 
and John Frederick of Saxony and Philip of Hesse hesi- 
tated. Just after this, Maurice, Duke of Saxony, went 
over to Charles V., and seemed to desert the Protestants. 
Thus Maurice obtained possession of the Electoral Duke- 
dom of Saxony belonging to John Frederick, who, although 
he defeated Maurice, was, himself, obliged to yield to the 
Emperor. The Protestant troops, in this battle were 
seized with a panic, and broke into flight The infantry 



Close of tJic Reformation. 243 

threw away their muskets as they fled. All were cut down 
without mercy by the instigation of Alva, so that the road 
was covered with dead bodies. Among the prisoners was 
John Frederick, who alone out of the Protestant force had 
resisted heroically. Alva said, "Had the whole army 
fought as well, the day would have ended differently." 
John Frederick was so indignant at the cowardice of his 
soldiers, that he said, " I am richer than my Lord Jesus. 
He had at table with him only one traitor, but I have had 
many." Charles V. appointed the Duke of Alva as 
president of a court which tried the captive Elector, and 
condemned him to death. The other German princes 
protested so earnestly against this sentence that it was 
never carried out; but Charles is said to have treated 
him very brutally, sometimes leading him round in his 
train as an example of shame and humiliation, and when 
he asked for mercy, telling him to get out of his sight. 
John Frederick was finally obliged to give up the most 
of Saxony to Maurice. He refused, however, to submit 
to the decrees of the Council of Trent, preferring rather to 
remain firm in his Protestant faith, though kept a prisoner 
for five years. 

Charles V. was urged by the contemptible Alva to 
burn Luther's body, and scatter his ashes; but he replied, 
"I war with the living, and not with the dead." He 
seemed always to have had a certain respect as well as 
fear for Luther; and in spite of his cruelty and duplicity, 
there were evidences that, while Luther lived, a better 
nature existed within. 

Philip of Hesse, who had been so noble in his conduct 
during Luther's life, now, under the influence of his son- 
in-law Maurice, begged Charles's forgiveness, agreeing 
to destroy all his fortresses except Cassel, and to pay a 
fine of one hundred and fifty thousand guldens in order 



244 Gennany : Her People and Their Story. 

to keep his rights as a prince. Charles made this stipu- 
lation ; but he gave his word to Maurice that on such 
conditions Philip should not suffer imprisonment or pun- 
ishment of any kind ; that, on the contrary, he would pardon 
him voluntarily, and that he could depend on his verbal 
promise to that effect. Nevertheless, Philip, having been 
invited to supper by Alva, after the repast, was arrested 
while engaged in a game of chess. He was kept in close 
confinement for many years, and, as was the case with 
John Frederick of Saxony, was dragged around in the 
Emperor's train as a triumph over German liberty. Philip 
exclaimed, " Is it possible that God can so deeply de- 
grade princes ? " 

The Emperor now had Northern Germany, except Mag- 
deburg, under his control. But when he returned to 
Bavaria, Maurice laid siege to that factious city. Charles 
V. was the arbitrary ruler of Germany, assisted by the 
Dukes of Alva and Granvelle. Twenty years after, it was 
Granvelle who was the real governing power in the Nether- 
lands, and who, as the instrument of Philip 11. of Spain, 
so cruelly oppressed the Netherlanders and crushed the 
masses, calling them "that mischievous animal, the 
people." 

Charles had violated every pledge in dealing with the 
princes; and, contrary to the laws of the Diet, he had sub- 
jected them by means of foreign soldiers. Everything 
was now Spanish, — his court, his commanders, his prel- 
ates, all of whom, as they marched through their land, 
insulted the German inhabitants. 

Although very indignant at the sacrifice of the Em- 
peror's pledges and the treatment of his father-in-law, 
Philip of Hesse, Maurice refused to break with the Em- 
peror up to this time; Charles, indeed, had solemnly 
declared that he was not aiming at the destruction of the 



Close of the Reformation. 245 

Protestants, although circumstances soon occurred which 
showed that these assurances were not true. 

In May, 1548, the Emperor proclaimed the ''Augsburg 
Interim." This edict required obedience from the entire 
Empire, confirmed all the Catholic dogmas, and restored 
the absolute authority of the Roman Church. To save ap- 
pearances, however, it allowed the people the communion 
in both forms and the marriage of the priests. The 
acceptance of the Interim was resisted by both Catholics 
and Protestants, — by the former on account of the two 
concessions. The Diet was called the " Armed Diet," be- 
cause Charles was obliged to use persuasion, threats, and 
violence in compelling obedience. He believed the Coun- 
cil of Trent would adopt the Interim ; but when the docu- 
ment was read, a dead silence was the only answer of the 
astounded assembly. The Elector-Bishop of Mayence, 
one of Charles's tools, rose in his place, and promising 
absolute obedience, hailed the Interim as a masterpiece 
of wisdom and a mark of the Emperor's mercy. Charles 
received the speech as if coming from the whole assembly, 
and the Interim was immediately proclaimed as a law of 
the Empire, though it succeeded only for a little time. 

The Emperor offered John Frederick his freedom if he 
would give his public sanction to the Interim; but the 
latter replied, "I am ready to die, but I will never vio- 
late the dictates of my conscience nor deny my religious 
faith." 

The thoughts of Charles V. were now all centred on 
having his son Philip chosen by the Diet as his successor, 
although his brother Ferdinand had been elected King of 
Germany in 1530; but the Electors would not comply with 
his request. 

Just at this time Maurice, who was besieging Magde- 
burg, turned traitor to the Emperor, as he was thought 



246 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

to have done to the Protestant Church. He marched 
against Charles with his army. He had signed a secret 
treaty with Henry H. of France, to whom he promised 
Toul, Verdun, and Metz, in return for the latter's assist- 
ance. Maurice seized the mountain passes, and hemmed 
the Emperor in at Innsbruck. Nothing but a speedy flight 
across the Alps saved Charles's life. This escape was 
a great relief to Maurice, as he said he had not "a cage 
for so great a bird." The Emperor was helpless, for now 
a resolute soldier had the will and power to enforce obe- 
dience. He applied to the Catholic Electors, and they 
replied they could do nothing without a Council, which 
Charles resolved immediately to call ; but prelates and 
laymen, upper and lower classes, fled in a great panic. 
Thereupon he turned to Ferdinand, who remarked with 
truth that the Turks were advancing into Hungary, and 
he could not spare a single soldier. Next he bethought 
himself of his daughter, wife of Ferdinand's son Maxi- 
milian, but she at once requested the payment of her 
dowry, three thousand ducats. The Emperor then asked 
a loan from the banking-house of Augsburg. They re- 
gretted that they were unable to oblige him. On the 
eastern frontier the Sultan threatened the whole Empire, 
and from the west came news that France had declared 
war. The Emperor perceived that all his movements 
were at a standstill. 

After the Council of Trent broke up, Philip of Hesse 
and John Frederick of Saxony were released from their 
long confinement; and the Protestants, having gained all 
the ground they had lost, for the present had nothing 
more to fear. The reception of John Frederick by his 
family and friends after a five years' imprisonment was 
beyond description. He died two years later, singing 
his favorite hymn, "What pleases God, pleases me also." 



Close of the Reforiiiatioii. 247 

At the Diet of Passau, which Maurice and Ferdinand 
of Austria had called, the Emperor was obliged to con- 
sent to a treaty which gave each German state a right to 
regulate its own affairs; it also provided for universal 
amnesty, a perpetual peace between Catholics and Prot- 
estants, whatever might be the decision of future Diets. 
In ratifying the treaty, although sorely pressed on ac- 
count of his helplessness, since Ferdinand reminded him 
that the Turks were advancing, Charles guaranteed the 
religious freedom only to the next Diet, and the Per- 
petual Peace he rejected altogether. 

Supported by a million ducats, which Philip had sent 
him from Spain, the Emperor now marched upon Metz 
with troops which the princes had supplied him, his posi- 
tion being strengthened by a union with Albert of Bran- 
denburg; but he was obliged to abandon the siege the 
next January, thus giving up all hope of regaining the 
fortresses handed over to Henry II. by Maurice a year 
before. It was four years before the quarrel with France 
came to an end. The Protestant states had nothing to 
fear during that time. 

Margrave Albert of Brandenburg was a ruffian, whose 
weapons were not only the sword, but fire and plunder. 
He was an old comrade of Maurice, and when sober had 
proved a good soldier and a genial companion; but he 
was willing to make his fortune in the service of any 
party. He always supported his armies from the spoils 
of the territory which he subjected. His appearance on 
these raids was like that of a formidable brigand. He 
carried a short musket, with pistols at his side; his coun- 
tenance was covered with freckles, and the lower part 
of his face overgrown with a heavy red beard; his long 
hair fell on his shoulders, and he rolled his eyes fiercely 
about. On account of his personal bearing, he was sur- 



248 Germany : Her People mid Their Story. 

named "The Wild." With his own hand he lighted the 
torch which kindled the fires and consumed the castles, 
palaces, villages, and forests of the enemy. It was said 
that no whirlwind, lightning nor thunder ever left be- 
hind such a trail of desolation. He was sometimes in the 
service of the Protestants, who, strange to say, since Lu- 
ther was dead, did not gainsay his right to attack and 
plunder. 

Albert of Brandenburg committed shocking barbarities 
in Saxony and Franconia, in the service of the Emperor, 
whose cause he continued to maintain, even after the 
latter had broken all the promises made to him. But he 
was overwhelmingly defeated by Maurice in July, 1553, 
at the battle of Sievershausen ; Maurice, however, fell 
in the thickest of the fight. The greater part of Saxony 
belongs to the descendants of Maurice to this day; while 
the older line, then represented by Frederick the Wise 
of Saxony and John Frederick, now hold only the little 
province of Thuringia. 

The death of Maurice encouraged Albert to make 
another attempt against the insurgents, but he was de- 
feated ; he then fled to France, and his estates were confis- 
cated. In 1557 he returned to Germany broken-hearted, 
and died in the Castle of Pforzheim, Baden, at the age of 
thirty-five. Just before he died he repented of his violent 
deeds, and became a true follower of Christ. He consid- 
ered his early death a just judgment of God for his sins. 
In his last sickness he wrote several hymns which are 
now sung in German and Swiss churches. 

The strength of the Emperor had failed rapidly ever 
since he had escaped in the rain over the Brenner Pass to 
Villach in Carinthia; his plans and his ambitions were 
also weakening. He left Germany with chagrin and dis- 
appointment, having installed Ferdinand as his succes- 



Abdication of Charles V. 249 

sor. The latter had always been a dutiful brother; and 
at the Emperor's instigation he called a Diet, which met 
at Augsburg the 25th of September, 1555. The Diet con- 
cluded a treaty of Religious Peace, which is known in 
history as the false peace of Augsburg, but for the time 
it gave rest to Germany. Those Protestants who followed 
the Augsburg Confession, and they alone, received reli- 
gious freedom and perfect equality before the law, also 
the possession of church property, which had fallen into 
their hands. Although their position was not equal to 
that of the Catholics, they now had the sanction of the 
Empire. The followers of Calvin and Zwingli, however, 
had no recognized rights ; so they were always making 
disturbances, and were quarrelling with both Catholics 
and Lutherans, until finally their privileges were assured. 
The last clause in the Peace of Augsburg, determining 
that the people should follow the religion of the reigning 
sovereign, afterwards caused much trouble, and gave it 
the name of the ''false peace." 

The Pope condemned the religious peace ; but the Ger- 
man Catholics rejoiced in harmony at any price, and they 
hailed it with gladness. They were especially satisfied 
with the arrangement, because the Jesuits, or " Society of 
Jesus," founded in 1540 by the Spaniard, Ignatius Loyola, 
were rapidly increasing. Originally the object of the 
Jesuit was the conversion of the heathen; but they soon 
devoted themselves to resisting the Reformation, and the 
Catholics feared they would finally also overthrow the 
Church. 

After Charles had abdicated in Germany, in 1556, he 
left Spain and the Sicilies, as well as the Netherlands, to 
his son Philip IL He immediately sailed to Spain, and 
retired to a monastery called St. Justus, where he lived 
for two years as an imperial monk, spending his time in 



250 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

his garden, in prayers, and in making mechanical inven- 
tions. He died in 1558. 

It is related that Charles was often embarrassed finan- 
cially, and was obliged to borrow extensively of Fugger 
the Jew. At one time when he paid Fugger a visit, the 
latter, in honor of the occasion, built a fire out of differ- 
ent delicately scented woods. Charles remarked that it 
was the most expensive fire a monarch had ever enjoyed. 
Fugger replied, "I will render it more memorable still 
in its costliness." Whereupon he threw into the flames 
the bonds for several millions of guldens, which signified 
the amount of the Emperor's indebtedness to him. 

Charles V., who is known also as "Don Carlos I. of 
Spain," was the greatest monarch of his time. He 
made Spain the leading nation of the world. In his 
youth he was the "mightiest, wealthiest, and most pow- 
erful prince in the universe." It used to be his boast 
that the sun never set on his dominion. His boundless 
ambition, unparalleled energy, and cold, calculating brain 
again and again served him, when it seemed that circum- 
stances were all fighting against his success; but his am- 
bition was entirely selfish, aiming at the aggrandizement 
of the House of Hapsburg, as well as the enlargement 
of all his dominions. It has been said of him that he 
was too cunning to rule a world, and that by burying 
himself in double-dealing and intrigue, his great natural 
advantages were overlooked. This was proved at the end 
of his reign, when his deeply laid plans broke to pieces, 
and at his death the two great objects of his life had not 
been accomplished. The first had been the uniting of all 
Christendom under the Pope; the second the union of 
Germany v/ith the Spanish Empire. The German people, 
following such leaders as Luther and Melanchthon, de- 
feated the first ambition; the princes, who came to regard 



Abdication of Charles V. 251 

him as a despot, thwarted the second. His wars with Fran- 
cis I. of France, four in number, wliich had for their ob- 
ject, on the part of Francis, tlie keeping of the balance of 
power, and hindering the entire overshadowing and final 
absorption of the French nation by the House of Austria, 
was the cause of a bitter rivalry, which created a continual 
unrest vuitil 1547, the year when the Emperor's two great 
rivals, Francis I. and Henry VIII., were buried. 

The bigotry of Charles V. crippled the workings of 
the Reformation, and was one of the remote causes of the 
Thirty Years' War. Luther said of him in his youth, 
" He will never succeed ; for he has openly rejected truth, 
and Germany will be implicated in his want of success." 



252 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

ABDICATION OF CHARLES V. TO THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 
1556 — 1618 A.D, 

WHEN the Diet met at Frankfort, in March, 1558, 
two years after the abdication of Charles V., Fer- 
dinand of Austria was elected and crowned Emperor. 
He had always protected the Protestants against the 
extreme measures of his brother Charles ; and, in accor- 
dance with this attitude, he observed faithfully the agree- 
ment made at the last " Diet of Augsburg." He allowed 
them their own form of the sacrament in Austria and the 
marriage of the priests. 

Five years after the Augsburg Peace, and four years 
after the abdication of Charles, Philip Melanchthon died, 
in April, 1560. He had lived to see the great work of his 
own and Luther's life crowned with success; he had been 
a participant or observer in all the important events of 
Charles V. 's reign. His mind had been affected more 
or less by the Italian wars, the sack of Rome, the battle 
of Miihlberg, the utter prostration at times of the Protes- 
tant cause, the career of Maurice, the ludicrous flight of 
Charles, and afterwards by the Treaties of Passau and 
Augsburg, which confirmed the Protestants in their rights 
and future security. Above all, he had reason to rejoice 
at the final abdication of the monarch who had done 
nothing but hinder the great cause. He had, during his 
useful life, seen students and professors, nobles, princes, 
and large audiences numbering several thousand, sitting 



Abdication of Charles V. 253 

at his feet listening to his entreaties to become the true 
followers of Christ. He "welcomed death," he said, 
"because it would deliver him from sin, and bring him 
into the light of Eternity, into the sight of God and his 
Son, and into the mysteries of faith, which we cannot 
understand in this life." When dying he was asked 
if he desired anything; and he replied, "Nothing but 
heaven." 

In December, 1563, the Council of Trent finally ad- 
journed. It had been in session eighteen years. It 
closed with anathemas against the Protestants, which 
were accepted by Spain, Italy, and Poland; but the 
Catholics in France and Germany were more liberal, and 
never tried to carry out the articles agreed upon by it; 
for although this Council of Trent had a majority of 
Catholics in the Diet, the German people had become 
Protestant, and in many parts of Germany very few 
Catholic congregations were left. 

The reign of Charles V. had weakened rather than 
strengthened the German Empire. Ferdinand had to 
give half of Hungary to Sultan Solyman, and was obliged 
to make an annual payment of three hundred thousand 
ducats in order to keep the rest. 

Ferdinand died in 1564, and was immediately suc- 
ceeded by his eldest son, Maximilian II. He was a 
gentle prince, and the Protestants cherished great hopes 
that he would join them openly. He was in the prime of 
life and already popular; for his goodness of heart, his 
engaging manners, and his moderation and justice, were 
known to all. Although branded by the Catholics as a 
Protestant in disguise, much to the disappointment of the 
Protestants, he refused to leave the Catholic Church, 
sending his son Rudolf to be educated in Spain under 
the bigoted influence of Philip XL. the son of his great- 



254 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

uncle Charles V. Maximilian, whose daughter had 
married Charles IX. of France, when he heard of the 
Massacre of St. Bartholomew, said, "Would to God that 
my son-in-law had asked counsel of me ! I would so 
faithfully have persuaded him as a father that he cer- 
tainly never would have done this thing." 

After a reign of twelve years, on the 12th of October, 
1576, Maximilian fell dead at a Diet, at the moment he 
was declaring his religious policy, which was the fol- 
lowing closely in the line of the Treaty of Augsburg of 
March, 1555. 

One hundred and forty years the Empire had been kept 
in the hands of the Hapsburgs, and the Electors immedi- 
ately chose Maximilian's son, Rudolf II., who, having 
been educated among the Spanish Jesuits, avowed him- 
self an enemy of the Protestants. Wishing to make 
Austria wholly Catholic, he abolished the guaranty of 
religious freedom which his father had pledged; and this 
led to revolts in Hungary, so that when the Turks saw 
his subjects requiring his attention they came down in 
full force. 

Rudolf II., like his great-uncle Charles V. and his 
remote cousin Philip II., was cold, despotic, gloomy, un- 
social, and superstitious ; and, like all the Hapsburgs, 
he looked after the interests of Austria rather than the 
good of the Empire. He loved the study of alchemy 
and astrology, and spent much time consulting the stars. 
These pursuits finally turned his head; for finding, as 
he thought, a prognostication that a murderer of the next 
generation would kill him, he permitted no marriage in 
the family in order to prevent a murderer being born. 
He encouraged Kepler and Tycho Brahe, a Swede, and 
to some extent advanced the research in astronomy which 
was being agitated at that time. But the course of the 



Abdication of Charles V. 255 

Hapsburg dynasty, in God's providence, was ruining the 
old Empire, and making a way for the Houses of Bran- 
denburg and Hohenzollern, which two centuries later were 
to become the foundation of the German Nation as we 
see it to-day. 

The dissension in religion and politics engendered 
in Rudolf's time was the means of bringing on the 
"Thirty Years' War." When he took away the right of 
worship his father had insured to Austria, closed the 
churches of the Protestants, burned their Bibles, and 
removed them from all the offices which they held, he 
quoted from the last Treaty of Augsburg, that whoever 
ruled a people should determine their religious faith./ 
But the country was quiet, and no particular event of im- 
portance in the German Empire happened after Rudolf's 
accession until the century closed. 

Spain was still busy with the Netherlands, Henry of 
Navarre was fighting the Duke of Guise, Hungary and 
Austria were left to check the advance of the Turks, and 
Germany enjoyed peace for fifty years. During this time 
wealth increased, the inhabitants in the cities lived more 
luxuriously, but failed more and more to keep the moral 
law. The arts and sciences flourished, and people grew 
cultured ; but the spirit of the Reformation was dying out. 
The laws presented in the gospel of Jesus Christ had 
become mixed up with superstition and bigotry; and al- 
though, civilization seemed to be advancing, barbarism 
still existed in men's souls. 

Duke Ferdinand of Styria, who would succeed his cousin 
Rudolf II., as the next heir to the throne, opened a new 
strife. Styria, his own country, was ultra Protestant, and 
refused to change its creed ; but Ferdinand declared that 
it was better to rule over a desert than a land of heretics ; 
so he closed their churches, introduced mass everywhere, 



256 Germany : Her People mid Their Story. 

and without ceremony banished all who did not believe 
in the Catholic religion. In May, 1608, the Protestants 
of Southern Germany, mostly of the Reformed Church, 
formed a " Union," under Frederick IV. of the Palatinate, 
for mutual protection, relying on Henry IV. of France. 
At this same time there was also a Catholic League, which 
Maximilian of Bavaria had founded with the assistance 
of Spain. Both of the organizations were finally united 
on the question of the " Succession of Cleves." The two 
leagues were alike opposed to John Sigismund, the Elector 
of Brandenburg, and Duke Wolfgang of Neuburg of the 
Bavarian Palatinate, both of whom claimed the duke- 
doms of Julich, Cleve, and Berg, together with the coun- 
ties of Mark and Ravensburg. This was a very large 
territory, and it was a great question whether it would 
fall into Catholic or Protestant hands ; but it was feared 
that the Emperor was about to seize it for the crown. In 
order to hinder this, the Elector of Brandenburg and the 
Duke of Neuburg met at Dortmund, and agreed to unite 
in the claim against the Emperor and the Catholic League. 
Henry IV., having been murdered by the assassin Ra- 
vaillac, and Frederick of the Palatinate having died, the 
Union and League united ; for Maximilian of Bavaria 
feared that otherwise the land would come under the 
power of the Hapsburgs^^ 

The feud continued until the convention of Zanten, 
Nov. 12, 1614. When Cleves, Mark, and Ravensburg were 
given to Brandenburg, and Julich and Berg to Neuburg. 

The Emperor Rudolf II. had inherited a gloomy dispo- 
sition from his great-grandmother, Johanna, the wife of 
Philip I. of Spain, and mother of Charles V. This mel- 
ancholy had now become a monomania, and was affecting 
his mind to such an extent that he seldom went out on 
account of his fear of assassination. In the meantime 



Abdication of CJiarlcs V. 257 

everything in the country had got into such a deplorable 
• state that a civil war was impending, and there were un- 
mistakable signs of the coming of a great strife which 
was to plunge the country into woe and disaster. 

Rudolf's health was now failing, and in his great 
strait he put forth a " Royal Letter " which kept the 
nation in a continual ferment during the next ten or 
fifteen years. It granted to the Hussites and Protes- 
tants freedom of v/orship, and rights like those which the 
Catholics enjoyed. Although Rudolf issued this Royal 
Charter, he still kept up his old relations with the Catho- 
lics, allowing the Bishop of Passau to raise an army to 
re-establish that faith. This duplicity of action, with 
many other causes, brought his whimsical character be- 
fore the public, so that the princes called upon Matthias, 
Rudolf's brother, to take the rule into his own hands, 
declaring the Emperor incapable of governing. 

Matthias had such a hard time in maintaining his posi- 
tion, and was obliged to accept so much help from the 
Protestant nobility, that he was forced to grant religious 
freedom to all. 

The government had still allowed Rudolf to keep his 
palace at Prague, where he continued to go on with his 
experiments under the great though superstitious Tycho 
Brahe. This kept his mind up to a high nervous pitch, 
almost amounting to insanity. Rudolf thought the great 
comet in 1608 a special dispensation on his own account, 
and his fear of assassination increased accordingly. He 
not only stopped going out in public, but he no longer 
went to church. Nevertheless, his love for fine horses 
kept up his interest in the Royal Stables ; and in the pas- 
sage which he had built to these he had oblique windows 
set deep in the solid wall to prevent all danger of being 
shot, and the entire gallery was lined with black polished 



258 Germany: Her People and TJieir Story. 

marble to reflect any assassin approaching. None of his 
ministers could get a hearing unless they disguised them- 
selves as grooms, and when Rudolf found out the decep- 
tion his melancholy fury knew no bounds. 

The Bohemians became so tired of the Emperor's whims 
that they called Matthias to help them dispose of him, 
and Rudolf was removed from his favorite palace in 
Prague. As he left the city he cried, " May the ven- 
geance of God overtake thee, and my curse light on thee 
and all Bohemia! " A few months after, in January, 1612, 
he died ; and in the years following Bohemia realized that 
this dire curse was indeed a prophecy. 

After Rudolf's death, Matthias was officially made 
Emperor. The Catholics were in the ascendency in the 
Diet, although in the nation they were in the minority. 
But since Matthias had ever shown a tolerant spirit to 
the Protestants in Hungary, Austria, and Bohemia, they 
also helped to confinn liim in his right to the throne. He 
always exhibited a desire to settle existing differences, 
but with the Catholic majority in some places he found 
this no easy task. Many complications arising, he grew 
so tired of the care of the government that he appointed 
his cousin, Ferdinand of Styria, as his successor, in the 
year 1617. 

Ferdinand of Styria has been noticed in his dealings 
with his own countrymen as a man of great energy, but at 
the same time stern and cruel. He was the son of Maxi- 
milian n.'s younger brother Charles. After the Bohe- 
mians had helped Matthias to succeed, the latter made 
Ferdinand their king. For the sake of policy he granted 
them religious freedom; but soon after, when he with 
Matthias went to arrange the succession in Hungary, they 
left the Protestants in Bohemia to the mercy of a bigoted 
Catholic Council determined upon mischief. 



Abdication of CJiarlcs V. 259 

The Catholic bishops, left in power, destroyed three 
Protestant churches ; and when the Protestant nobles ap- 
pealed to Matthias, instead of protecting them, he threat- 
ened them in a letter as disturbers of the peace. Matthias 
was now under the influence of Ferdinand, who when he 
became King of Bohemia, taking the advice of the wily 
Jesuits, had adroitly seemed to respect the rights of the 
Protestants, but was in reality himself a Jesuit ; and, be- 
fore he took his oath, he had visited the Holy Shrine at 
Loretto, in Italy, on the Adriatic coast, and made a vow 
that he would build up the Holy Catholic Church and 
put down Protestantism. He had done this in Styria, and 
he was bound to do the same in Bohemia. 

As Ferdinand had hoped, he was elected King of Hun- 
gary, and was soon to be made presumptive heir to the 
imperial throne under the title of King of the Romans. 

When Matthias and Ferdinand had left Bohemia for 
Hungary, they had placed as regents two zealous Catholic 
members of the Council, Slavata and Martinitz, who were 
afterwards suspected of having influenced Matthias in his 
menacing letter. On the opposite side was Count Thurm, 
a strong Lutheran, who was determined to destroy the 
Hapsburg rule. On the 23d of May, 16 18, when the 
Council had assembled in the Royal Palace at Prague, 
a troop of Hussite and Lutheran armed nobles, under 
Count Thurm, entered the Council Chamber where Mar- 
tinitz and Slavata were sitting. They reproached the 
two regents with being in league with the Emperor in his 
arbitrary attitude in the letter answering their complaints. 
When asked if they had prompted the Emperors action, 
the regents replied that they had. On receiving this an- 
swer, in spite of their prayers for a priest and the sacra- 
ment, the mob, according to an old custom, pitched them 
through the window out-of-doors, a distance of eighty feet. 



26o Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

Strange to say they arose and walked away uninjured. 
When they had fallen, the mob had cried out, "Now let 
their Mary save them." Directly under the window there 
was a pile of refuse paper, which broke their fall; and 
though several shots were fired after them, they were 
entirely unharmed. When the crowd saw them get up 
unhurt, some of the superstitious ones cried, " Their Mary 
has saved them." 

The Bohemians called this the act of " Defenestra- 
tion ; " it was the real beginning of the Thirty Years' 
War. The Catholics regarded the event as a miracle, 
and declared that the escape was due to the help of 
angels, who had saved Martinitz and Slavata from the 
effects of their fall. The King of Bohemia asserted that, 
in the persons of the councillors, the sovereigns them- 
selves had virtually partaken of the violence of the deed. 
This was the opening act of the long struggle filled with 
violence and slaughter, which was continued throughout 
the Thirty Years' War, — a war that kept a whole genera- 
tion in fear of bands of unpitying marauders, made Ger- 
many a desert, and stopped all progress. The unprotected 
inhabitants were obliged to support armies of trained hire- 
lings, who fought on the basis of no moral principle, but 
simply for the spoils. 

The act of " Defenestration " was followed by a great 
revolution ; the imperial forces were beaten, and the Jes- 
uits driven out of Prague. Matthias, whose health was 
fast failing, was anxious to conciliate the victorious in- 
surgents in Bohemia ; for he dreaded their influence 
over Austria and Hungary. But the Catholic priests and 
princes were resolved to make one more effort to gain 
the supremacy. 

Ferdinand congratulated the Emperor on an event which 
would justify him in the eyes of all nations in using the 



Abdication of Charles V. 261 

severest measures against the Protestant sect. The Em- 
peror did not indorse his views ; but, unequipped, he did 
not dare to offer the rebels overtures of peace, for all 
Bohemia had already sprung to arms. With the assis- 
tance of Spain, Matthias was soon able to get in readiness 
a small army with which to take the field ; but before he 
proceeded to action, he tried to make an amicable adjust- 
ment, by the publication of a manifesto in which he assured 
the Bohemians that he held sacred the " Royal Letter " 
which Rudolf had issued some years before. He told 
them that he was not inimical to their religion, and that, 
as soon as the Bohemians laid down their arms, he would 
disband his own troops. 

The leaders of the insurrection tried by every device 
to keep the good intention of the Emperor from the peo- 
ple, spurring on the deluded populace, and terrifying them 
with visions of another St. Bartholomew, as a fate that 
would soon be their own. The Protestants were influ- 
enced in their actions by a firm faith in their own strength. 
The preceding year they had celebrated the one hun- 
dredth anniversary of the Reformation ; they found that 
they constituted three-fourths of the population, and they 
could not believe that there was force enough in the op- 
position to put them down. Their purposes were further 
strengthened when Moravia espoused their cause. Just 
at this juncture, also, an intrepid defender arose. 

Peter Ernest, Count Mansfeld, a brilliant young com- 
mander, the son of an Austrian officer of the same name, 
followed the fortunes of the Protestants to the end of his 
life. He had already been connected with the Evan- 
gelical Union, which from the earliest day had always 
supported the insurgents. The Silesian States also sent 
assistance ; and had the Protestants concentrated their 
forces, and prepared themselves for action on the usual 



262 Gcrjnany : Her People and Their Story. 

solid basis of war, by systematizing their methods, and 
arranging to clothe, feed, and pay their army, instead of 
being simply rebels, they might have become the success- 
ful victors in a revolution, and decided the fate of a nation 
without the subsequent agonizing struggle. 

After several battles, the Emperor died, as he was about 
to enter into negotiations for peace. 



Revolt of Bohemia. 263 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. 
FIRST PERIOD. 

Revolt of Bohemia. Frederick V. of the Palatinate. 
Mansfeld, Christian of Brunswick, Tilly. 

1618—1625 A.D. 

THE affairs of the government were in a very unprom- 
ising condition, and the moment wliich seemed to be 
bringing the fulfilment of Ferdinand's hopes also threat- 
ened to deprive him of his last chance. But he did not 
lose a day in taking the power into his own hands, Aus- 
tria threatened revolution ; Hungary joined Bohemia ; the 
Protestant princes did not want him to be Emperor, and 
Bohemia had no faith in his promise to renew the " Royal 
Letter." Bethlen Gabor held an intimidating position in 
Hungary, and Count Thurm had marched to the doors of 
Vienna, threatening to shut Ferdinand in. The Emperor 
sent his wife and children to the Tyrol, and, with three 
hundred men, prepared to stand his ground. The Protes- 
tants who wished to join the Bohemians were a majority in 
the city, and some were even then going over to the hos- 
tile ranks. In the country they had begun to levy troops 
against him, and had it not been for the irresolution of 
the enemy outside he would have been forced to yield 
to a deputation of sixteen Austrian Protestant princes 
who had entered his palace, one of them seizing him 
by the button of his coat, insisting that he should sign 



264 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

a charter which would insure the united rights of them- 
selves and Bohemians, and which would in truth make 
them too strong for his future reforms. The Bohemian 
bullets were already falling on his palace. He saw the 
chasm widening, and already imagined himself shut in a 
monastery, and his children brought up by Protestants. 

One of the deputation demanded, " Ferdinand ! wilt 
thou sign .? " Ferdinand maintained the dignity of a 
Roman Emperor. While there seemed nothing left to him 
but the submission which his friends urged and the priests 
besought, he knew that if he abandoned the city it would 
fall into the enemy's hands ; with Vienna, Austria would 
be lost, and with Austria his own throne. It is said that 
he threw himself upon his knees, and prayed for help to 
stand firm against what his conscience forbade, and that 
he thought he heard the reply, " Fear not, I will never 
forsake thee." Almost as if his prayers were at that 
moment answered, a sound of trumpets was heard in the 
palace square. A new terror took possession of all pres- 
ent, and one deputy after another disappeared. Many 
citizens were so frightened that they fled for refuge to 
the camp of Count Thurm. 

The sudden change had taken place because Archduke 
Albert, with re-enforcement, had gained admittance by the 
gate left unguarded by Thurm, and in consequence Ferdi- 
nand was rescued. He hastened to Frankfort to see that 
his election as Emperor was confirmed, and on September 
9, 1619, he was crowned as Ferdinand II. He had been 
chosen by the ballot of all the Electors, even receiving the 
vote of the three Protestants in the Diet, who, for some 
unknown reason, had sustained him, even while know- 
ing his character and intentions concerning the Catholic 
Faith. There was suspicion entertained that they had 
been influenced by bribery. 



Frederick V. of tJie Palati/iate. 265 

During the festivities of the occasion, tidings came that 
the Protestants of Bohemia liad rejected Ferdinand as 
their king, and had called a general Diet at Prague, 
August 17, 1 6 19. At this Diet they proclaimed the Em- 
peror an enemy to the Bohemian religion, declaring that 
he had alienated the affection of the late Emperor from 
them ; that he had made their country a prey to foreigners ; 
and that he had bequeathed the crown by secret compact 
to Spain. In view of these transactions, they affirmed 
that he had forfeited his title to their crown, and pro- 
ceeded to a new election. 

Since the Elector Palatine, Frederick V., was esteemed 
by the people of Bohemia more than any one else, they 
elected him as their king, hoping by this means to gain 
over the Union. 

Frederick was a weak prince, who, having married the 
daughter of James I. of England, was entirely under her 
control. His father-in-law entreated him to desist from 
so dangerous a step, telling him that he could not depend 
upon English aid in establishing a precedent where an 
old law of nations was at stake. Frederick's aged mother 
also tried to dissuade him ; and, full of grief at parting 
when he went to accept the crown, she cried out, " Now 
the Palatinate is going to Bohemia." But his wife, the 
handsome Elizabeth, always having desired a crown, 
taunted him with not having the spirit of a king, although 
he had been so fortunate as to marry a king's daughter. 
She said, " I would rather eat bread at a king's table 
than feast at an Electoral board." 

Frederick was crowned with great pomp, November 4, 
1619. The opening of his reign was most auspicious; 
the adoration of the people of Bohemia knew no bounds ; 
the ladies sent Elizabeth sacks of cakes, and an ebony 
cradle inlaid with silver for her infant son Rupert. 



266 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

Frederick idled away his time the first winter, while 
Ferdinand II. was making every preparation to put him 
down. Seeing his want of discipline and that he was 
losing so much time, the Jesuits said, " This Frederick 
will only be a Winter King ; " and when the spring came 
and he lost his crown, and was also finally driven from 
his beautiful home in Heidelberg Castle, where the build- 
ings are all named for him and his family, he went ever 
after by the name of " The Winter King. " 

Before this took place Frederick had alienated all par- 
ties by his indiscretions. The Hussites had always held 
to their old methods, keeping up the Catholic form of 
religious service, and letting the ornaments remain in the 
churches. With his radical Calvinistic views, this seemed 
a sin ; accordingly he quarrelled with that faction, and, 
ignoring Count Thurm, gave the command of his army 
to his closest adviser. Prince Christian of Anhalt. One 
hope after another vanished, one friend after another with- 
drew, and in a few months the fair prospects which first 
flattered him passed away. His ill-timed zeal for the 
Calvinists irritated the Lutherans, his attacks on the illu- 
minated altars and images exasperated the Papists, while 
his oppressive taxation estranged all his subjects. The 
Bohemian nobles, when they saw there was no foreign 
aid, grew cold in their attachment to him. Meanwhile 
Frederick was wasting his precious time in amusement, 
enjoying the idea of wearing a crown instead of making 
it secure. On the other hand, while Frederick was injur- 
ing his cause, Ferdinand II. was at every turn improving 
his unfavorable outlook. \\'hen the leaders of the Union, 
who had retired from Frederick's service at the time the 
Catholic League took the field, again marshalled an army, 
the Emperor and the League did the same thing. The 
moment seemed decisive. 



Mansfcld, CJiristian of Bninszvick, Tilly. 267 

At this juncture France, fearing the power of the Cal- 
vinists and the influence of their example on the Hugue- 
nots, intervened, and effected a treaty between the Union 
and the League, by which the Union agreed to confine its 
aid in behalf of Frederick exclusively to his Palatinate 
domain. The Elector of Saxony was in alliance with 
Ferdinand, who gained over all the German princes, while 
the Lutherans, in opposition to Frederick on theological 
grounds, remained neutral. 

The Bohemians retired under the walls of Prague ; 
while Tilly leading the Austrians and the Duke of Bavaria 
with an army of his own people, camped above the town. 
The famous battle of White Mountain was fought on Sun- 
day, the 8th of November, 1620. 

In the beginning, some advantage was gained by Duke 
Anhalt ; but Count Mansfeld, to avoid fighting under him, 
had stayed away, and the whole of Frederick's army did 
not amount to thirty thousand men. His entire artillery, 
consisting of ten cannon, was taken at the first assault, 
and four thousand Bohemians fell on the field. On the 
other side, only a few hundred were killed. In less than 
an hour the decisive action was over. 

When Anhalt hurried bare-headed into the town to tell 
Frederick that his army was cut to pieces, his men flying, 
and that all was lost, he found him seated at the dinner- 
table feasting with his friends. Having mounted the 
wall of the town, and witnessing the frightful scene, Fred- 
erick asked for a cessation of hostilities for twenty-four 
hours, but only eight hours were given him. 

The city might have been saved had Frederick not 
abandoned it ; since Mansfeld and Bethlen Gabor, by 
taking the offensive, would have called off the Emperor's 
army to the Hungarian frontier. The Bohemians also 
were likely to rally ; and the weather, becoming inclement, 



268 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

would soon have discouraged the siege. But Frederick 
fearing that the Boliemians, to appease the Emperor, 
would surrender him in person to the enemy, fled from 
the capital by night with his chief officers, taking with 
him his wife Elizabeth, and Rupert, his little boy, whom 
he hid under the carriage-seat. In the hurried depar- 
ture he left behind his crown, and Prince Anhalt left his 
most valuable papers. 

To his friends, who tried to comfort him, Frederick 
said, " I know not what I am. There are virtues which 
misfortune only can teach, and it is in adversity alone 
that princes learn to know themselves." He fled to 
Breslau, and then to the Court of Brandenburg, and 
finally took shelter in Holland. 

Prague surrendered the next day. The Bohemians were 
at the mercy of the Catholic League under Tilly and 
Maximilian of Bavaria. The whole country was ravaged ; 
and many of the nobles expired on the scaffold, their 
estates being confiscated, and all the property of the rebels 
seized. Toleration of the Protestant religion in the king- 
dom was revoked. The old "Royal Letter," which had 
caused Ferdinand so much trouble, he tore up with his 
own hands, and burned the seal. The Hussite churches 
were given to the Catholics; and before the end of this 
reign the Hussite and Lutheran doctrines had been 
trampled down in Bohemia. 

Frederick was put under the ban of the Empire ; and, 
in his place, Maximilian of Bavaria was made Elector, 
Had Frederick been willing to give up his title as King 
of Bohemia, he might have saved the Palatinate. The 
Protestant Union did not wish to lose their Elector ; there- 
fore they maintained their allegiance to Frederick, and 
Mansfeld for a time held two Bohemian towns for him, 
living by robbery and by ravaging the land. 



Mansfeld, Christimi of Brunswick, Tilly. 269 

Elizabeth, the wife of Frederick, grew so charming 
that the young princes became ever more ardent in her 
cause. Christian of Brunswick, a dashing young general, 
and brother of the duke, called himself her knight, and 
wore her glove on his helmet, with the inscription, " For 
God and for her." In order to obtain money for his 
troops. Christian used to plunder the bishoprics, and 
force the cities and villages to pay him heavy contribu- 
tions. When he saw the silver statues of the apostles 
around the altar in the Cathedral at Paderborn, he cried 
out to them, " Why are you here idle, when you are 
ordered to go forth into the world and do your Master's 
work? But I will send you." Thereupon he had them 
melted, and coined into dollars, and stamped them with 
the words, "Friend of God, foe of the priest." After- 
wards he adopted this as a name for himself, although 
he was called by the soldiers, "Mad Christian." 

Tilly was a fierce and inhuman Thuringian peasant. 
He had been educated T^y the Jesuits for a priest, but 
afterwards entered the Bavarian service under Maxi- 
milian. : He was a small, lean man, with a face noted for 
its ugliness; his nose was like a parrot's beak, his brow 
was furrowed with deep wrinkles, and he had high cheek- 
bones, with eyes sunken deep in their sockets. He went 
to battle in a green slashed coat, and slouch hat adorned 
with a red feather, and riding a small gray mare. He 
was brutal to his soldiers, and unmerciful to the enemy. 
This Thirty Years' War was the most terrible ever known. 
The generals, maintaining their forces by pillage, wore 
out the enemy by ruining their country and scattering 
misery and sorrow everywhere. 

Tilly, after being checked by the forces of Mansfeld 
and Prince Christian of Brunswick, rallied and cut them 
to pieces, sending them back to Alsatia. Both armies 



2/0 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

went on burning and plundering on the respective banks 
of the Rhine. Tilly destroyed Mannheim, and sent the 
great library of the University of Heidelberg to Pope 
Gregory XV. at Rome, where it remained until 1815, when 
a part of it was returned by way of Paris. 

Frederick V. could get no support from the Protestant 
princes, and finally tried to negotiate with the Emperor 
for the recovery of the Palatinate; but all his humilia- 
tions were in vain. Ferdinand gave his rival's lands 
and titles to Maximilian of Bavaria; and although in di- 
rect opposition to usage and the laws of German princes, 
a Diet at Ratisbon confirmed the deed. Frederick never 
regained his courage, but continued to make efforts to 
get back the Palatinate until the time of Gustavus Adol- 
phus. He died in Mayence in 1632. 

Germany was now in a worse condition than ever. The 
Protestants were no better than the Catholics. Slaughter 
and robbery were practised on both sides, and neither 
kept faith with its own party. The Protestant countries, 
Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and England, were dis- 
mayed. At this time the real ruler of France, Cardinal 
Richelieu, was willing to sacrifice his Catholic prejudices 
for the sake of curtailing the power of Ferdinand. Eng- 
land and Holland came to the aid of Prince Christian 
by advancing money, and in 1625 Brunswick, Branden- 
burg, Mecklenburg, Hamburg, Liibeck, and Bremen 
formed a Union for mutual defence, choosing for their 
leader the great King Christian IV. of Denmark. This 
ruler had broken the power of the Hanseatic League on 
the Baltic; although he had no sympathy with the North 
German States, he was willing now to join them to 
enlarge his domain. He therefore offered to unite with 
England and Holland; and they were soon in the field 
against Tilly, and compelled him to call off his forces. 



Mansfcid, CJiristian of Bninsivick, Tilly. 271 

At the beginning of the year 1625 affairs stood thus: 
Ferdinand found the power of Bavaria increasing, and he 
feared more and more the growing influence of the Catho- 
lic League. He was afraid of his own power being over- 
shadowed, and coveted entire independence of outside 
forces, earnestly desiring that it should be acknowledged 
that he had crushed Protestantism, and brought the whole 
German nation under his control. Tilly, as his only great 
general, was growing too strong for him ; and when in 
this last emergency, he looked about and saw that a man 
of unbounded influence as a general had arisen, he did 
not hesitate for a moment, but gave into his hands un- 
limited power. Thus began the second period of the 
Thirty Years' War. 



2/2 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THIRTY years' WAR CONTINUED. 

second period. 

Wallenstein. 

1625— 1630 A.D. 

IT was a terrible bargain Emperor Ferdinand II. made 
with that man of destiny, Wallenstein, when he 
granted him power to plunder, murder, and commit out- 
rages alike upon friend and foe. 

Ferdinand, on account of his despotism, found himself 
deserted by the German princes, who were alarmed be- 
cause the House of Hapsburg was gaining too much 
ground. The sovereigns of Europe were afraid of a 
united Germany. Richelieu, the great minister of Louis 
XIII., was just coming upon the scene, and disapproved 
of Ferdinand's aims. Holland dreaded the influence of 
Catholicism. James I. was preparing to restore his son- 
in-law to the Palatinate. The King of Denmark, who 
was the Duke of Holstein, feared that his religion might 
be suppressed, and uniting with England and Holland in 
the declaration of war against the Empire, marched to 
help the Protestant princes, the Duke of Brunswick and 
Count Mansfeld. 

Had not the Protestant princes been guilty of the 
error they avoided as long as Luther lived, of allowing 
their forces to become divided, they might, at this junc- 
ture, have triumphed over Ferdinand II. and the Catholic 



Thirty Years War Continued. 273 

League. As it was, the element that came to the surface, 
and helped to dispel the gloom which was settling upon 
the Emperor's mind, was the appearance of Wallenstein. 

Ferdinand now desired to become independent of Duke 
Maximilian and the Catholic League. The officer who 
had distinguished himself in the war against Bethlen 
Gabor and the Turks, and had fought in Italy against 
Venice and at the battle of White Mountain, and who 
now came to the Emperor's relief, was this same Wallen- 
stein. Enriched by presents from the Emperor, he had 
been made Duke of Friedland. By the skilful purchase 
of confiscated Protestant lands he had greatly increased 
his patrimony; and now his aim was glory. He was an 
astrologer, and what he thought the stars portended for 
him were high honors and great fame. The latter is his 
for all posterity; the former he trampled in the dust and 
degraded. 

Ferdinand made this bold adventurer a prince, and 
gave him the right to raise and maintain an army with 
the absolute command. Wallenstein, although able 
himself to support the troops, never meant to pay the 
soldiers from his private fortune; hence the bargain he 
entered into with the Emperor. 

Albert of Waldstein, or Wallenstein as he is generally 
known, was born at Prague, in 1583. He was the greatest 
of all the bandit warriors who ravaged Germany during 
those terrible years. He was tall and thin in person, 
and, like Tilly, wore in his hat a blood-red plume; his 
eyes were dark and fiery, and his complexion yellow. 
He never smiled, and his words were few and stern. 
There was something mysterious in his character that 
made a deep and awful impression on all who came in 
contact with him. His soldiers feared his power, believ- 
ing him invulnerable, and in league with evil spirits. 



274 Germany: Her People and Their Stojy. 

Wallenstein soon raised an army of thirty thousand 
men from disbanded Protestant forces; but during the 
winter of 1626 the troops of Christian IV. and Mans- 
feld, and those of Tilly and Wallenstein, were encamped 
against each other, each army laying waste the territory 
about it alike, whether that of friend or foe. This 
method of supporting soldiers in the field by a system 
of plunder was practised by all parties until Gustavus 
Adolphus appeared with his well-equipped legions. 

In the spring of 1626 Mansfeld marched against Wal- 
lenstein to prevent him from uniting with Tilly. The 
two armies fought desperately on the Elbe at the bridge 
of Dessau, April 25, 1626. Mansfeld was defeated, and 
retired into Brandenburg, fighting as he went. Here he 
obtained re-enforcements, and was about to join Bethlen 
Gabor in Hungary, when he heard that the latter was 
trying to make peace with Austria. Then Mansfeld 
dispersed his army, and was soon to have embarked for 
England, by way of Venice, when he died, in Novem- 
ber, 1626. Although only forty-five years of age, he was 
already worn out by the hardships of his rough campaign- 
ing life. Within a few months Prince Christian of 
Brunswick also passed away, and the cause of the Prot- 
estants was left without a German leader. 

In August of the same year Tilly had defeated Chris- 
tian IV. at Lutter, the army of the latter being cut en- 
tirely to pieces. Tilly after this pushed forward to the 
North Sea, while Christian IV. retreated to Holstein; 
but this was soon taken from the Danes, together with 
Silesia and Jutland, by Wallenstein, with a new army of 
forty thousand men. The Emperor rewarded this prow- 
ess by making Wallenstein Duke of Mecklenburg, and 
giving him the title of "Admiral of the Baltic and the 
Ocean." A plan was drawn up in 1628 for creating a 



Thirty Years' War Contunicd. 275 

navy out of the vessels of the old Hanseatic League and 
the Spanish fleet, with which to conquer Holland, and, 
united to Holland, to crush Sweden, the last Protestant 
power in the North. 

All this might have been accomplished had not the 
little Hanseatic town of Stralsund closed its gates 
against Wallenstein. Hamburg and Liibeck had surren- 
dered at Wallenstein's approach; but the citizens of this 
little city took a solemn oath to defend their faith, and 
fight for their independence to the last. Although they 
held out so bravely, Wallenstein declared, ''If Stralsund 
were chained to heaven with adamant, I would tear the 
city down." At the first assault he lost a thousand men, 
at the second double that number, and after this the cit- 
izens harassed his army, inflicting deadly blows. The 
Kings of Sweden and Denmark sent the city aid, and 
obliged Wallenstein to raise the siege. The Danes, with 
a fleet of two hundred vessels, took possession of the port 
of Wolgast in Mecklenburg. 

Christian IV. had abandoned the cause of German 
Protestantism by a treaty of peace at Liibeck, May 12, 
and Ferdinand II., notwithstanding Wallenstein's reverse 
of fortune at Stralsund, considered that his absolute 
power was established over Germany, and determined 
to give Protestantism its death-blow. Perhaps he re- 
membered the vow he had made at Loretto with the 
Holy Virgin to extend the Catholic worship even at the 
risk of his crown and life. Accordingly, on March 6, 
1629, he issued his famous Edict of Restitution. By 
this ordinance all the lands of the Roman Catholics 
which had been confiscated by the Protestants since the 
Convention of Passau were to be restored to the original 
proprietors. This decree deprived the Protestants of 
two archbishoprics and twelve bishoprics. A large nam- 



2/6 Germajiy : Her People and Their Story. 

ber of monasteries and churches, which had been sup- 
pressed a century before, were to be re-established ; also 
in conformity to one of the articles in the last Treaty 
of Augsburg, called the "Augsburg decree," declaring 
that the religion of the ruler should become that of the 
people, Ferdinand ordered that in all such territory no 
Protestants should be tolerated except those who had 
accepted the Augsburg Confession, 'and this excluded 
Calvinists. According to this doctrine, the people in the 
Palatinate of the Rhine were compelled to be alternately 
Catholic and Protestant four times. 

In order to enforce this Edict of Restitution, Ferdinand 
was obliged to keep armies in the field; and in carrying 
out its terms, the soldiers were in the habit of using the 
most brutal methods. In Franconia, Wiirtemberg, and 
Baden the estates of six thousand nobles were seized, and 
the officers under the Emperor went so far as to attack the 
property of reigning princes ; the portion not reverting to 
the Church went to enrich the Emperor's family. Young 
Leopold, Ferdinand's son, a boy of fifteen years, received 
the Archbishoprics of Bremen and Magdeburg: but the 
Protestant lands did not always satisfy Ferdinand, and 
when the Catholics saw that they also were soon to 
suiifer, the smaller states became alarmed, and prepared 
for action. The Emperor had at this time thought that 
he saw a prospect of such power as Charles V. had 
coveted, but had lost in the Smalkaldic war; also at the 
very same time that the states were aroused, Wallenstein 
became so arrogant and despotic that he urged the 
Emperor to do away with the National Diet, saying that 
the German Emperor did not need the states, but that he 
ought to be as absolute a ruler as the King of France or 
Spain. 

At the moment Wallenstein was urging the Emperor 



Thirty Years' War Continued. 277 

to assume more unlimited authority, he himself was 
making plans to become a ruler independent and unre- 
strained by royal prerogatives. The Catholics and 
Protestants were now alike aroused, and demanded a Diet 
to restrict such despotism, and to do away with so much 
absolute power. Ferdinand would have refused, had he 
not seen that foreign nations — Holland, Sweden, and 
France, as well as Denmark — were ready at a moment's 
notice to open hostilities against him. 

The Diet met on 'the 5th of June, 1630, at Ratisbon, 
and, headed by Maximilian of Bavaria, demanded Wallen- 
stein's removal. The Protestants testified to his having 
wasted their lands, and that he had burned and murdered 
indiscriminately. The Catholics complained that the 
enormous wealth which he had unjustly accumulated 
enabled him to live in the most princely magnificence. 

Ferdinand was obliged to listen to the terms of the 
Diet; for at this very time he was negotiating with the 
Electors to have his son crowned King of the Romans, 
and he knew that he could only gain the favor of the 
princes by Wallenstein's dismissal. 

When the messengers went to inform Wallenstein of 
the decision of the Diet, they feared him so much that 
they scarcely dared mention their business. The cool- 
ness and dignity with which he received the news 
surprised them. He pointed to a sheet of paper covered 
with astrological characters, and told them he knew all 
about it beforehand, and that he understood how the 
Elector of Bavaria was misleading the Emperor; but he 
said his highest duty was to obey. He then entertained 
the messengers at a magnificent banquet, arid after load- 
ing them with gifts, sent them away. 

He soon after returned to Prague, where he lived like 
an independent sovereign. Six gates led to the palace 



2/8 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

which Wallenstein inhabited, a hundred houses having 
been pulled down to make room for his grounds. His 
other estates had similar palaces. Gentlemen of the 
nobility vied with each other as if he were a sovereign 
for places of service in his house. Chamberlains 
under the Emperor often resigned their positions to serve 
him. He kept about him sixty pages, whom he caused to 
be intructed by the most efficient masters in order to fit 
them for his suite. He had his chamber guarded by fifty 
armed men. His table was never 'laid with less than 
a hundred covers, and his butler was a person of high 
rank. When he travelled, one hundred six-horse wagons 
accompanied him to transport his baggage; and his court 
followed in sixty carriages, attended by fifty horses led by 
grooms. A patrol of twelve officers guarded his palace 
in Prague, which he compelled to be kept free from dis- 
turbances of every kind. So averse was he to the noise 
of vehicles, that the streets leading to his grounds were 
blockaded with chains. 

He was liberal in his gifts; and it is said he was much 
more lavish in the latter than with his words, which were 
harsh and imperious. He was so afraid of his secrets 
being known that the most of his correspondence was 
managed by himself, and written by his own hand. 

In this stately silence and apparent obscurity, Wallen- 
stein awaited the decrees of fate. 

Meanwhile Tilly was appointed commander-in-chief of 
the imperial army. The Protestants in the twelve years 
of this dreadful warfare had decreased in number over 
one-half; they were broken in spirit, and seemed facing 
the utter ruin of their country and religion. But hope, 
in the person of a great commander, was at hand. 



Third Panod of TJiirty Years War. 279 



CHAPTER XXX. 

THIRD PERIOD OF THIRTY YEARS' WAR. GUSTAVUS 

ADOLPHUS. 

1630—1633 A.D. 

ON the 4th of July, 1630, Gustavus Adolphus, King 
of Sweden, landed on the coast of Pomerania with 
sixteen thousand men. He was the grandson of Gusta- 
vus Vasa, and the hero of his age. He is said to have 
been the only prince in Europe at that time to whom 
oppressed liberty could look for protection. 

Gustavus Adolphus had not completed his seventeenth 
year when the throne became vacant by the death of his 
father, Charles IX. His grandfather, Gustavus Vasa, had 
rescued Sweden from its vassalage to Denmark, and had 
reformed it by wise laws. He had lived at the begin- 
ning of the Reformation, and was a Protestant in his 
doctrine. He had moulded his country in the straight 
line of religion and truth, and had formed a rather in- 
complete outline for the government of the nation, which 
Gustavus Adolphus was about to fill in by a career which 
began and ended in success. 

Before Gustavus Adolphus had set out to cross the 
Baltic, his preparations were made with the greatest 
prudence and deliberation. Oxenstiern, his minister, ad- 
vised waiting, and meeting the enemy on Swedish ground; 
but Gustavus had overruled this advice, saying the sea 
was too wide and the coast-line too long to defend. He 
had taken all precautionary measures to assure himself 



28o Gcnnany : Her People and Their Story. 

that the King of Denmark was friendly; he also saw that 
his Russian frontier was well guarded, and felt that when 
he arrived in Germany he could hold Poland in check. 
Liibeck and Hamburg agreed to advance him money, 
accepting Swedish copper in return. His regiments were 
increased to their full strength, transports were provided, 
a fleet fitted out, and military stores laid in. His army 
was admirable in every point of discipline ; and, though 
small, it was the nucleus of greater forces if success 
should seem about to be his. 

The internal affairs of the Swedish kingdom were pro- 
vided for with equal care. Gustavus is said to have set 
his house in order like a dying man. The government 
was intrusted to the Council of State, and the finances to 
his brother-in-law. Palatine John Casimir. On the 20th 
of May, 1630, the king appeared in the Diet of Stock- 
holm for the purpose of asking the representatives to 
swear fealty to his daughter Christina, a child of four 
years, whom he held in his arms. He then bade the 
members of the Council a solemn farewell. His words 
were so touching that the whole assembly burst into tears. 
He said, '' Not wantonly do I involve myself and you 
in this dangerous war. God is my witness that I do not 
fight to gratify my own ambition. But the Emperor has 
wronged me in the person of my ambassador. He has 
supported my enemies, trampled my religion, and stretched 
his hand against my crown. The oppressed states of 
Germany call for aid, which by God's help we will give 
them. I am fully sensible of the dangers to which my 
life will be exposed. Hitherto Providence has wonder- 
fully protected me, but I shall at last fall in defence of 
my country. I commend you to the protection of Heaven. 
Be just and act uprightly, and we shall meet in eternity. 
I bid you all a sincere, it may be an eternal, farewell." 



Gnstavns AdolpJuis. 281 

When Gustavus Adolphus stepped on the shores of the 
Baltic, he knelt in the presence of all his soldiers, and 
prayed that God would assist him in this venture, which 
he had undertaken for the right. Some of his officers 
were moved to tears by his devotion, whereupon he said, 
"Weep not, friends, but pray ; for prayer is half victory." 

Gustavus Adolphus was at this time thirty-four years 
old ; his lofty character was written in his commanding 
face. Gigantic in his proportions, with his light hair, 
large gray eyes, and aquiline nose, he offered a striking 
contrast to the haggard and wrinkled Tilly and the silent 
and mysterious Wallenstein. The noblest man as well as 
the best soldier of his age, he was as great in statesman- 
ship as in war. A patron of art, science, and learning, 
he was a ready orator, deeply versed in theology, speak- 
ing four languages with ease. He was descended from 
the Goths, and therefore a countryman of those he came 
to serve. 

When Ferdinand II. heard that the King of Sweden 
had landed, he called him the " Snow King," saying that 
he would melt away in the spring; but the common 
people named him "The Lion of the North." He had 
landed on the Island of Wolfin, and upon his approach 
the imperial garrison abandoned their intrenchments and 
fled. He advanced rapidly to Stettin, but to the weak 
Duke of Pomerania, Bogeslaw XIV., the appearance of 
his deliverer was only an occasion of fear ; however, when 
the duke appeared in the camp of Gustavus, the latter 
said to him, " I come to you, not as enemy, but as a 
friend. I wage no war against Pomerania nor the Ger- 
man Empire, but against the enemies of both." 

The Protestant princes were jealous of the King of 
Sweden, and Stettin for a long time shut the gates of the 
city against him. George William, the Elector of Bran- 



282 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

denburg, and John George of Saxony, held aloof from 
him ; but when the people saw how well disciplined his 
army was, and that he would allow no plunder nor vio- 
lence, and that he fed, clothed, and lodged his army so 
well, and gave them chaplains to care for their souls, they 
welcomed him wherever he marched. 

Before the end of the year Gustavus had driven the 
imperial troops from Pomerania, he had taken Frankfort- 
on-the-Main, and asked of the Elector of Brandenburg 
the use of the fortress of Spandau until he could relieve 
Magdeburg, which was now being besieged by Tilly and 
Pappenheim, because it had so furiously resisted the 
Edict of Restitution the year before. Gustavus was has- 
tening to relieve the fortress, and asked permission to 
march through the Elector of Saxony's land ; but he was 
refused. On account of all this delay, although Magde- 
burg held out a month, Tilly, with General Pappenheim, 
took it by storm on the loth of May, 1631, and a scene 
of horror commenced which no language can describe. 
Infants were stabbed at their mothers' breasts, and the 
soldiers amused themselves by throwing young children 
into the flames. Nothing was sacred in the eyes of the 
enemy. Some of the officers of the League, who in com- 
parison with Tilly's soldiers seemed humane, were horror- 
stricken, and reminded Tilly that he had it in his power 
to stop the carnage. " In an hour I will see what I can 
do ; the soldiers must have some reward for their danger 
and toil." Tilly wrote to the Emperor : " Since the fall 
of Troy and Jerusalem such a victory has never been 
seen. I am sincerely sorry that the ladies of your imperial 
family could not have been present as spectators." In less 
than twelve hours this most populous city was reduced 
to ashes, with the exception of a few houses and two 
churches. Out of forty thousand inhabitants, only eight 



Giistavus Adolphus. 283 

hundred remained alive. After the flames subsided, Tilly 
and his men went back into the city to renew the pillage 
amidst the dying and a few of the living who were crawl- 
ing out from amidst the dead bodies of the slain. 

When George William of Brandenburg ordered Gusta- 
vus to give up Spandau, which he had temporarily loaned 
him, telling him to leave his territory, the king planted 
his cannon before Berlin, threatening that he would lay 
the city in ashes if the Elector did not agree to have this 
fortress used by the Swedes, and promise to contribute 
thirty thousand thalers a month for the expenses of the 
war — a thaler being seventy-three cents, or about three 
shillings. Had Gustavus done this at first, the horrors of 
Magdeburg would have been spared. 

The noble-hearted Landgrave William of Hesse-Cassel, 
worthy of his ancestor who a century before had defended 
the freedom of Germany against Charles V., was the first 
Protestant prince who allied himself with the King of 
Sweden ; John George was the next ; for when Tilly had 
invaded and wasted his territory, he laid aside his arro- 
gance, and was so anxious to join Gustavus that he was 
willing to agree to the most servile terms. After this so 
many recruits flocked to the Swedish standard that the 
imperial troops were soon driven out of Mecklenburg, and 
Tilly's attack on the camp of Gustavus was repulsed. 

On the 7th of September these two great generals 
met. Gustavus, with an army of thirty thousand, op- 
posed Tilly near Leipsic. In this stupendous battle the 
Swedes were without armor, and musketeers were dis- 
tributed amongst the cavalry. The army of Tilly, sup- 
ported by Pappenheim, was drawn up in a long line, the 
troops wearing cuirasses and helmets. Pappenheim com- 
manded the left. Gustavus, wearing a white hat with a 
green feather, mounted on a white horse, rode up and 



284 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

down the line encouraging the men. The motto of the 
Swedes was " God with us," that of the Catholics, " Jesu 
Maria." The Saxons gave way before Tilly for a mo- 
ment ; but the Swedes repelled the seven charges of 
Pappenheim's cavalry, captured the cannon, and turned 
them against Tilly. The imperial army fled in disorder ; 
but the Swedes pursued them, and cut them to pieces 
until night put an end to the slaughter. Tilly, severely 
wounded, reached Halle with only a few hundred men. 

Amidst the dead and wounded, Gustavus Adolphus 
threw himself upon his knees in fervent prayer of thanks- 
giving. He then ordered his cavalry to pursue the enemy 
as long as the daylight would permit. At nightfall he 
encamped with his army between the battlefield and Leip- 
sic, and did not attempt to take the city until the next day. 
Tilly felt that all former conquests were nothing, since he 
had failed in this, which should have crowned them all. 
From this time he never regained his cheerfulness, and 
his former good fortune waned. 

The splendid victory restored the hopes of the Protes- 
tants. Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, who in zeal, hon- 
esty, and bravery, resembled the king, became the chief 
reliance of Gustavus as a military leader. John George 
of Saxony marched into Bohemia, and the Swedish army 
took their course through central Germany to the Rhine. 
Before Tilly's wovmds were healed, he gathered together 
the scattered imperial forces, and tried in vain to check 
Gustavus's march ; but the latter, after taking Wiirzburg, 
entered Frankfort in triumph, and went into winter quar- 
ters, allowing his Swedish troops time to rest. The coun- 
try of the Catholic princes through which he passed had 
not been plundered or laid waste ; he never avenged the 
barbarities against the Protestants, but proclaimed every- 
where religious freedom for all. *' With the sword in one 



Gustavus Adolphtis. 285 

hand and mercy in the other he traversed Germany as a 
conqueror, a lawgiver, and a judge ; the keys of towns 
and fortresses were delivered to him as if to a native 
sovereign. No stronghold was inaccessible, no river 
checked his victorious career. He conquered by the 
very terror of his name." His influence spread so rap- 
idly that he soon found himself respected by friend and 
foe. 

Some unfriendly critics have said that he conceived 
at this time the idea of becoming Emperor of Germany, 
and that this was the natural consequence in the case of 
a foreign sovereign who had carried success with him 
from the very start. 

Eleanor, the wife of Gustavus, now came over from 
Sweden to join him. Meeting and embracing him, she 
said, " You are my prisoner, Gustavus the Great ! " He 
held a splendid court at Frankfort, where all the German 
princes were required to acknowledge themselves as his 
dependants. This winter was given up to diplomacy 
on all sides. Richelieu, who had aided Gustavus with 
money, began to be jealous of his increasing power, and 
schemed secretly with Maximilian of Bavaria; while at 
the same time the latter was writing to Gustavus, who 
soon saw that no arrangement could be made with him. 
It is said that Gustavus would have restored Frederick V. 
to the Palatinate had the latter been willing to give the 
same equal rights to the Lutherans that he had to the 
Calvinists. This Frederick refused to do. 

Gustavus now came into Bavaria, and was received 
with great joy in Nuremberg. Even he himself was 
astonished to find that he had pushed his way into the 
very heart of Germany. Next he advanced to Donau- 
worth, where the first trouble of the Thirty Years' War 
had arisen. Here he restored Protestant worship. 



286 Germany: Her People mid Their Story. 

Tilly meanwhile was fortifying himself on the river 
Lech, between Augsburg and the Danube. Gustavus 
marched against him, and having fired upon him for three 
days from the opposite bank, he finally said, "Have we 
crossed the Baltic and so many great rivers of Germany, 
and shall we now be checked by a brook like the Lech? " 
At this point, where the Lech forms an angle, he caused 
three batteries to be erected, and maintained a cross-fire 
upon the enemy. A thick smoke concealed the progress 
of his work, and the noise of the cannon drowned the 
sound of his axes. He kept alive the courage of his 
troops by his own example, discharging sixty cannon 
with his own hand. On this dreadful day, Tilly also did 
everything in his power to encourage his troops, and 
nothing in the danger of the situation could drive him 
from the bank. At last a cannon-ball found him out, 
completely shattering his leg. Seeing Tilly's dangerous 
wound, and that he was no longer able to command them, 
the Bavarians gave way; and, advised by the dying com- 
mander, Maximilian gave up the impregnable position 
for lost. That same night, before a single soldier of the 
Swedish troops had crossed the Lech, Maximilian broke 
up his camp, and retreated to Ingolstadt. Tilly died a 
few days afterwards, at the age of seventy-three. 

The next day, when Gustavus completed the passage 
of the river, he beheld with astonishment the enemy's 
camp. He was more surprised than ever at the Elector 
of Bavaria's flight, when he saw how strong the position 
had been. He said, " Had I been the Bavarian, if a 
cannon-ball had carried away my beard and chin, I would 
never have abandoned a position like this, and laid open 
my territory to the enemy." 

Augsburg opened its gates to the Swedes, and Munich 
surrendered; but Gustavus accepted a tribute, and took 



Gtistavus Adolphus. 287 

the cannon, one hundred and forty in number, from under 
the arsenal. One piece was found to contain thirty thou- 
sand gold ducats which the King considered a consider- 
able prize. The Elector of Bavaria had transported all his 
treasures, except these cannon, to Werfen. The magnifi- 
cence of the buildings in Munich astonished Gustavus, 
and he asked the guide who showed him the apartments 
of the palace who the architect was. The guide replied, 
"No other than Maximilian himself." — "I wish," said 
the king, " I had this architect to send to Stockholm." 
The guide answered, "The architect will take care to 
prevent that." 

Maximilian of Bavaria now desired peace. John George 
of Saxony was again growing jealous of Gustavus; was 
all the time very much afraid of Emperor Ferdinand II. 
On account of his timidity and weakness he remained 
inactive, and lost many opportunities to gain power for 
Gustavus. 

The Emperor had long since ceased to call Gustavus 
a " Snow King." He had now lost Bavaria, and since the 
Saxons and King of Sweden were marching into Austria, 
he did not know what to do. All his friends were either 
faithless or disheartened by disaster ; the resources of the 
country had already been exhausted by the brutal warfare 
of Tilly and Wallenstein, and all supplies and magazines 
of war had been taken by Gustavus in his march through 
the land. The Emperor saw himself on the brink of an 
unfathomable abyss ; for he knew that the Austrian 
strength was weakening; he recognized the fact that the 
chief cause of the superiority of the Swedes in the field 
was the unlimited power of their leader and king, and 
that Gustavus Adolphus, as the highest authority in his 
army, could take advantage of every favorable chance, 
and bring everything to bear for the accomplishment of 



288 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

his purpose. Ever since Wallenstein's removal and Tilly's 
failure and death, he had been hampered by the generals 
of the League, who wanted perfect liberty of action, 
whether it accomplished the best ends or not. Now the 
Emperor saw that there must be concentrated effort, and 
he understood that, in order to have efficient work, Wal- 
lenstein must be recalled. 



Wallenstcin Recalled. 289 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

WALLENSTEIN RECALLED. BATTLE OF LUTZEN. DEATH 

OF GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. ASSASSINATION OF WALLEN- 
STEIN. 

1632—1634 A.D. 

DURING his retirement the Duke of Friedland had 
grown more arrogant than ever; he now required 
the unlimited command of all the German forces, and of 
those of Austria and Spain, with absolute power to punish 
or reward. The Emperor ventured to propose that the 
archduke, afterwards Ferdinand III., should nominally 
be placed at the head of the imperial forces. Wallen- 
stein replied, " Serve under Ferdinand ? No ! I would 
not serve under God himself." The King of Hungary 
and the Emperor were never to appear in his army. The 
latter was to have no authority, was to give no commis- 
sion, grant no pensions, nor assume any control without 
Wallenstein's approval. Every Austrian province was to 
be opened to the latter for refuge. As his reward, the 
Duchies of Mecklenburg were to be given him, and the 
promise of one of the Hapsburg states ; furthermore, he 
was to have the disposal of all the confiscated lands. In 
a word, he was to be the sovereign, and the Emperor 
dependent upon him. The whole arrangement was based 
on treason ; for there was already a law which condemned 
to death any one who should try to impose conditions on 
the reigning monarch. Notwithstanding the oppression 
contained in the terms, Ferdinand agreed to them all, 
and the imperial army again had a commander-in-chief. 



290 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

By offering high wages and abundant plunder, Wallen- 
stein soon raised forty thousand men, many of them 
disaffected Protestants. Immediately after, with these 
troops, he retook Prague, which John George had vacated 
at his approach. Maximilian of Bavaria soon gave him 
command of his forces, and with eighty thousand men 
he proceeded against Gustavus Adolphus, who still held 
Nuremberg. For nine weeks both armies lay encamped 
near together, watching the best chance to make the at- 
tack. At last the King of Sweden, tired of the inactivity, 
marched out of Nuremberg, intending to go to the aid 
of John George of Saxony, since Wallenstein had sent 
some of his troops thither, burning and plundering as they 
went. 

On the 27th of October, 1632, Gustavus reached Erfurt, 
where he took leave of Queen Eleanor, who never again 
beheld him, except as he lay in state. In their sorrowful 
adieus there was a foreshadowing that this was the last. 

On the way through Weimar on the ist of November, 
the country people flocked in crowds to look upon the 
hero, the great king, who just a year before had appeared 
among them like a guardian angel. They knelt and 
struggled for the honor of touching the sheath of his 
sword and the hem of his garment. 

Wallenstein now determined to secure winter quarters 
in Saxony. He had been so inactive before Nuremberg 
that it had occasioned much comment ; and although he 
was not yet ready to match his strength with this world- 
renowned conqueror, he did not wish to seem to avoid a 
battle. His astrologer, Seni, had read in the stars that 
the good fortune of the Swedish King would wane in 
November, and since the situation also favored him, he 
determined to give battle ; but before he could assume 
the offensive, Gustavus had taken possession of Naum- 



Battle of Liitzen. 291 

burg, a place near Liitzen, and Wallenstein was obliged 
to await the attack. But since Gustavus seemed to be 
intrenching himself at this point, apparently for some 
months, Wallenstein decided to send away General Pap- 
penheim, and go into winter quarters. As soon as 
Gustavus heard of this move, he determined to attack 
Wallenstein's army. 

On both sides the troops had been arranged with great 
military skill. During the war, no two generals so 
equally matched had been ready in the field to face each 
other. Now Europe was about to see who was the greater. 
Both had been invincible, one now must acknowledge the 
other a victor. It would soon be seen whether Gustavus's 
victory at Leipsic and the Lech were on account of his 
superior skill as a general, or the weakness of his op- 
ponents; whether he had before been the great general 
Europe had acknowleged him to be, or whether circum- 
stances had gained his laurels. 

At last dawned the morning of the 6th of November, 
1632. Wallenstein's forces numbered twenty-five thou- 
sand, those of Gustavus twenty thousand. The King of 
Sweden made an eloquent address to his men, and as he 
knelt in prayer, the whole army united in singing Luther's 
hymn, "A mighty fortress is our God. " For hours the 
battle raged fiercely. Gustavus rode along the ranks, 
animating and stimulating the troops by his presence. 
In the excitement of the moment, just as he had dis- 
mounted in order to encourage the division which he was 
commanding to pass the trenches and take the enemy's 
battery, Gustavus was forced into the opponent's ranks. 
A corporal, noticing that the soldiers made way for him, 
ordered a musketeer to take aim at the officer. " Fire 
yonder! " he said, "that must be a man of consequence." 
The king's left arm was shattered ; the soldiers, seeing their 



292 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

beloved commander bleeding from his wounds, exclaimed, 
" The king is shot ! " Observing the horror occasioned by 
this cry in the ranks, Gustavus cried, "It is nothing, fol- 
low me; " but seeing his strength failing, he requested the 
Duke of Lauenburg to lead him unobserved from the tu- 
mult. In the circuitous route taken in order to elude the 
notice of his men, he was shot three times in the back. 
Seeing that he was dying, he said to the duke, " Brother, 
it is enough; look out for your own life." A brave boy, 
a corporal in his service, was asked by one of the enemy 
who the wounded prince was ; and upon the noble youth's 
refusing to reply, they struck him dead; but Gustavus is 
said to have answered, "I am the King of Sweden." At 
the same moment he fell, pierced by several shots. 
Abandoned by all his men, he breathed his last amidst 
the plundering Croats. His charger, covered with blood, 
flying riderless back to the Swedish ranks, told the officers 
of the cavalry the tragic fate of their beloved sovereign. 
They rushed forward to save the sacred remains, but in 
the conflict, his body was buried deep in a heap of the 
slain. 

When the mournful tidings were carried through the 
Swedish army, instead of destroying the courage of the 
brave soldiers, it fanned it into a fiercer flame. Death 
had no terrors for the followers since the great chief was 
slain. All the regiments rushed like untamed lions upon 
the enemy, who were beaten and driven from the field. 
The Duke of Saxe-Weimar proved a noble leader to the 
bereaved Swedes, and the same spirit of the great Gus- 
tavus continued to lead his troops to victory. 

At this juncture, Pappenheim, having heard the great 
straits to which Wallenstein's army was brought, arrived 
on the field, and it looked as if the battle must be fought 
over again; for his appearance revived the sinking spirits 



DeatJi of Gnstavus Adolphus. 293 

of the Imperialists. Wallenstein, riding through his ranks 
amid showers of balls, some of which even cut through 
his garments, assisted the distressed, and encouraged the 
valiant with praise, and stimulated the wavering by the 
fearful glance of his eye. 

Pappenheim, whose name had become such a byword 
for robbery and murder that the Germans to this day 
perpetuate his notoriety in the expression, " I know my 
Pappenheimers," was the bravest soldier of the Church 
and of all Austria. He had earnestly desired to meet the 
King of Sweden in person, and with this hope he had 
advanced into the thickest of the fight. Gustavus had 
also wished to meet Pappenheim, and death at the same 
hour brought these two men together. Two musket-balls 
pierced the breast of Pappenheim, and he was carried 
from the field. While they were conveying him away, 
he heard the rumor that Gustavus was dead. When he 
learned that it was true, his dying eyes lit up with a 
gleam of joy. "Tell the Duke of Friedland, " said he, 
''that I lie without hope of life, but that I die happy, 
since I know the implacable enemy of my religion has 
fallen on the same day." 

In Pappenheim, the good fortune of the Imperialists 
vanished. Though the Swedish army profited by the 
enemy's confusion, both sides fought on until night and 
darkness put an end to the contest. Then they separated, 
the trumpet sounded, and Wallenstein's men left the 
Swedish artillery in possession of the field. The Duke of 
Friedland retreated to Leipsic, leaving his colors behind. 

The body of Gustavus Adolphus was found after a long 
search stripped of all its ornaments, mutilated by horses' 
hoofs, and hardly recognizable. The place where he 
fell was near the great stone which had stood between 
Liitzen and Canal; it still bears the name, "Stone of the 



294 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

Swedes." His generals were stupefied by the unexpected 
blow, and stood speechless around his bier. It is said by 
critics friendly to Ferdinand 11. , that at sight of Gus- 
tavus's mantle stained with blood, the former said, "Wil- 
lingly would I have granted to the unfortunate prince 
a longer life, and a safe return to his kingdom, had Ger- 
many been at peace." History has generally inclined 
to the suspicion that Gustavus Adolphus did not die a 
victim to the ordinary chances of war, but that, at the 
instigation of the Emperor, he was murdered in the ranks 
by Francis Albert, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, the man 
who carried him dying from the field. Lauenburg's 
intimacy with the king permitted a free access to his 
person, and the green sash which Gustavus wore, not only 
pointed him out to the enemy, but insured Lauenburg's 
own safety amidst the fierceness of the fight. Neverthe- 
less, it has generally been conceded that the noblest and 
greatest man of this terrible war passed away providen- 
tially at the very zenith of his glory, and thereby not 
only saved his illustrious name from calumny, but ren- 
dered an essential service to the liberties of Germany by 
insuring the Protestant rights, and forcing the states to 
more noble exertions for their own religious privileges. 

After the death of Gustavus, Bernard of Weimar 
became the military leader of the Protestants, while the 
Swedish minister, Oxenstiern, took charge of the State 
and the negotiations with foreign powers. Some affirm 
that the Duke of Friedland even now meditated treason, 
and others say that, being affronted at the interference of 
the Emperor, he was determined at whatever cost to gain 
absokite power. In any case, he was so demoralized that 
he retired to Bohemia, where he remained idle, in spite 
of the Emperor's entreating him to take the field. The 
Protestants were successful everywhere, but Wallenstein 



Death of Giistavus Adolphus. 295 

seemed not to care so long as his personal power was 
secure. Finally he marched with great pomp into Si- 
lesia; but there, instead of routing the mixed army of 
Swedes, Saxons, and Brandenburgers under Count Thurm, 
he made a truce with the Protestant general, Arnheim, 
with whom he afterwards entered into secret negotiations, 
and also with the French ambassador. The treaty was, 
that in return for Wallenstein's alliance with the Protes- 
tants, he should receive the sovereignty of Bohemia; and 
it is said on good authority that he aspired to the Ger- 
man imperial crown. Bernard of Saxe-Weimar and Oxen- 
stiern refused to have any negotiations with him. 

Ferdinand and Maximilian implored Wallenstein to 
come back again to the North, march against Ratisbon, 
and send six thousand men to the Spanish army, which 
Ferdinand had been obliged to summon to his aid from 
Italy. On Wallenstein's refusal, the Emperor was anxious 
to rid himself of him, and to put his own son, the King 
of Hungary, in his place. Wallenstein had already been 
accused of being a traitor to the imperial cause, and he 
now decided to take steps which would separate him from 
that cause for all time. 

On the I ith of January, 1634, Wallenstein called a coun- 
cil of war, and in an adroitly framed speech, complained 
of Ferdinand's ingratitude, declaring that he would in- 
stantly resign. The officers saw their own pay and plun- 
der, as well as glory, departing ; and the next day, at a great 
banquet, forty-two of them signed a document pledging 
their fidelity to him. General Piccolomini, one of the sign- 
ers, betrayed all this, twelve days after, to the Emperor, 
who appointed another commander-in-chief. At the same 
time he ordered the seizure, dead or alive, of Wallenstein 
and his brother-in-law Tersky, Illo, and one or two others 
of Wallenstein's friends. 



296 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

Wallenstein openly revolted, and endeavored to treat 
with the Swedes, as he had endeavored to do with Gusta- 
vus Adolphus some years before. His own army de- 
serted him ; and the army of Bernard of Saxe- Weimar, 
and the troops still left to Wallenstein, were drawing 
near each other in the vicinity of Eger. 

On the 24th of February, 1634, Wallenstein reached this 
little town on the Bohemian frontier. Only two or three 
more days would be required to carry out his plans. 

In a small narrow street in Eger, off the public square, 
may be seen the burgermaster's house where the ghastly 
assassination of Wallenstein took place. The surround- 
ings of the market-place even now are suggestive of foul 
deeds. One almost shudders while an old croning guide 
points to the winding staircase in the narrow, dark pas- 
sage, leading from the court beneath to the fatal chamber 
where the man of Napoleonic ambition met the reward 
of treachery. In this rude chamber hang pictures of the 
deed and mementoes of the man. On that doleful night, 
in a castle overlooking the town, with towers of the Bar- 
barossa time, more murder was committed. The only 
four loyal men out of the forty-two who had pledged fealty 
to Wallenstein were Illo, Terzky, Kinsky, and Neumann. 
They, with others, had accepted an invitation to a banquet 
in this citadel, while Wallenstein remained in his quarters 
in the burgermaster's house. At a signal, Gordon and 
Leslie put out the lights, and the dragoons, entering the 
banquet-hall, murdered the victims in cold blood. Wal- 
lenstein had been a benefactor to both of these men. 

While these tragic events were transpiring in the castle, 
Wallenstein had been occupied in reading the stars with 
Seni. "The danger is not yet over," said the astrologer. 
" It is," said the Duke, who would even dictate to heaven, 
"that thou, friend Seni, thyself soon shall be thrown into 




Thic Death ok Wallexstein. 



Assassuiation of Wallcnstein. 297 

prison ; that also is written in, the stars." The astrologer 
had taken his leave, and Wallcnstein had retired to his 
couch, when Captain Devereux appeared with thirty armed 
ruffians, on pretence of bearing important despatches. 
Cutting down Wallenstein's servant, he entered the room 
where the general lay, exclaiming, "Are you the villain 
who would betray our Emperor ? " Wallcnstein, recog- 
nizing that his hour had come, like Caesar, made no 
resistance, but opening his arms wide, received the death- 
blow. 

The old citadel still stands, a dismantled fortress ; but 
the castle has never been used since that day, and the 
burgermaster's house has remained a deserted place. 

The day after the assassination an express arrived from 
the Duke of Lauenburg announcing his approach. The 
messenger was secured, and another in Wallenstein's livery 
was despatched to the duke to decoy him to Eger. The 
strategy succeeded, and Lauenburg fell into the Emperor's 
hands. Duke Bernard of Weimar, as we have seen, was 
also on the march towards Eger, and came near being 
surprised. Fortunately, however, he heard of Wallen- 
stein's death in time to save himself by retreat. 

There are those who declare that Ferdinand neither 
instigated nor desired Wallenstein's death ; for when he re- 
ceived the news of the murder he shed tears, and ordered 
three thousand masses to be said for the dead man's 
soul ; nevertheless, he did not fail to reward the assassins. 
He divided Wallenstein's vast estates amongst the offi- 
cers who had sworn to support him on that fatal night 
when the council of war was held, and the document was 
signed which Piccolomini betrayed to the Emperor. 

Thus, at the age of fifty years, the career of this great 
general came to an end. He owed his greatness to ambi- 
tion, and by it he received his fall. He had the merits 



298 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

both of a commander and a hero, — wisdom, justice, firm- 
ness, and courage ; but the virtues of tenderness and pity 
which render rulers beloved, he lacked. Fear was his 
weapon, since he was equally lavish with punishments and 
rewards. Submission among the soldiers is said to have 
been more important to him than bravery. With a com- 
prehensive glance he always took in the entire situation, 
having seen through the whole false religious system by 
which Ferdinand was governed. The Jesuits never for- 
gave him for his disrespect to the Church in regarding 
the Pope as nothing more than a bishop of Rome. Under 
the Empire, the fortunes of no one were propitious who 
quarrelled with the Church, and Wallenstein was no ex- 
ception. He lost the command of the army the first time 
at Ratisbon through the intrigues of the ecclesiastics, 
and it was through the agency of the clergy that Fer- 
dinand consented to the sacrifice of Wallenstein's life. 
Schiller declares that it was through the influence of the 
monks that his honorable name and good repute have been 
lost to posterity. The same historian gives the opinion 
that Wallenstein fell not because he was a rebel, but that 
he became a rebel because he fell. 



Death of Ferdinand II. 299 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

DEATH OF FERDINAND II. FERDINAND III. END OF 

THIRTY years' WAR. PEACE OF WESTPHALIA. ITS RE- 
SULTS AND ITS PROVISIONS. STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 

1635 — 1648 A.D. 

THE death of Wallenstein, preceded by that of so 
many brilliant leaders, put an end to the fiercest 
fighting of the Thirty Years' War. Though it was four- 
teen years before the Peace of Westphalia, all parties 
now began to desire a cessation of hostilities. 

The Emperor made his son Ferdinand, already King of 
Hungary, nominally commander of Wallenstein's troops, 
but in reality Count Gallas continued to act as the real 
commander-in-chief. The latter soon forced the garrison 
at Ratisbon to surrender, before Bernard of Saxe-Weimar 
could reach the place. There was a fierce battle at Nord- 
lingen, in which the Protestants were defeated, and Duke 
Bernard barely escaped with his life. 

The war now received an impetus from Cardinal Riche- 
lieu, who was an enemy of the Protestants in France; 
nevertheless, in order to weaken Austria, he helped Ger- 
many by furnishing French troops in return for the 
promise of more territory in Alsace and Lorraine. He 
had kept himself out of sight while Gustavus Adolphus 
lived, but Duke Bernard of Weimar depended greatly 
upon his aid in carrying on the war. 

John George was enabled to make a separate treaty at 
Prague, in 1635, by which the Emperor gave up the Edict 



300 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

of Restitution as far as Saxony was concerned. Ferdi- 
nand, however, made no concession to the Protestants in 
any other part of the land. Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, 
Brunswick, and Anhalt followed the example of Saxony; 
but the Emperor excepted Baden, the Palatinate, and Wiir- 
temberg, refusing to grant religious freedom to Austria. 
He made a provision fatal to them all, that they should 
raise an army and place it at his disposal. This caused 
a new schism in the Protestant Church, which added 
another twelve years to the eighteen years of war. 

The Duke of Saxe-Weimar refused to be a party to the 
contract for furnishing troops to the Emperor. John 
George was pronounced a traitor by the Protestants ; and 
the Emperor was branded with the same name by the 
extreme Catholics, because he had conceded rights to the 
Protestants. Ferdinand was so weary of the turmoil that 
he offered the Swedes three and a half millions of florins, 
and Duke Bernard a principality in Franconia, provided 
they would accept the Treaty of Prague. Although this 
was the most gloomy period of the war, both offers were 
refused. 

During the years 1636 and 1637, Germany was wasted 
by the opposing armies, and famine and disease carried 
off the most of the population which the sword had spared. 
Duke Bernard went to Paris to procure additional aid. 
He obtained from France a subsidy to pay a force of 
eighteen thousand men. This number he easily raised 
in Germany, since the hope of the Protestants was now 
centred in him. Soon after this he gained possession of 
Alsace, routing the Imperialists in a body. 

On the 15th of February, 1637, Emperor Ferdinand 11. 
died at the age of fifty-nine years. His stern policy 
towards the Protestants, and his bondage to the Church, 
is said to have caused the loss of ten million human 



Ferdinand III. 301 

beings. He indeed thought, as he had at first declared, 
that it was better to reign over a desert than over a nation 
of Protestants. His confessor said of him, "The voice of 
a monk was to Ferdinand H. the voice of God. Nothing 
on earth was more sacred in his eyes than a priest." He 
also declared that " if a ' Regular ' were to meet him at 
the same time and place with an angel, the former would 
receive his first and the latter his second obeisance." 

During the reign of eighteen years, Ferdinand had 
never once laid aside the sword nor experienced the bless- 
ings of peace. He was endowed with many of the 
virtues of a good sovereign. He was amiable in his 
domestic life, gaining the love of his Catholic subjects, 
while he earned the execrations of the Protestants. Schil- 
ler says of him, " History exhibits many and greater des- 
pots than Ferdinand H., yet he alone has had the 
unfortunate celebrity of kindling a thirty years' war." 

Ferdinand HI., already King of the Romans, inherited 
"his throne, his principles, and the war which he caused." 
But having seen the sufiiering of the period, he earnestly 
desired peace. He was less influenced by the Jesuits, 
and more tolerant towards the religious views of others; 
thus, by listening to the voice of reason, harmony was 
restored in his reign. 

A little more than two years after Ferdinand IH. had 
succeeded to the throne, Duke Bernard of Weimar sud- 
denly expired, on the i8th of July, 1639. He died at the 
age of thirty-six. It was generally believed that he had 
been poisoned by an agent of France, since there had been 
a rupture between that nation and Bernard on account of 
the taking of Breisach, the key of Alsace, by the latter. 
This belief is strengthened by the fact that the French 
immediately marched into Alsace, and held the country. 

The nine years after Bernard's death, until the close of 



302 Germmiy : Her People and Their Story. 

the Thirty Years' War, formed an epoch of real interest 
all over Europe. After the Treaty of Prague the Swedes 
felt themselves unencumbered by obligations to any of 
the German principalities, and from that time carried on 
war with a desperate hand. Banner, one of the first 
generals of the day, led them for two years, and sent as 
trophies to Sweden six hundred standards taken from the 
enemy's hands. He had burned eighty castles and hun- 
dreds of villages, while eighty thousand men had fallen 
in the numerous battles which he fought. 

Banner was followed by Torstensohn, whose "enter- 
prises had wings, while his body was held by the most 
frightful fetters." Although an invalid, and carried to 
his battles on a litter, this general surpassed all his 
opponents in activity. He carried the war into Austria 
and Silesia, and fed his armies from these fat fields. 

Wrangel followed Torstensohn, and proved himself no 
unworthy successor of these two pupils of Sweden's idol- 
ized king. The war at this time was prosecuted only 
for the purpose of furnishing food and employment to 
the troops. The Swedes had now as a nation made 
themselves feared by all Europe. The army of the Em- 
peror had been exhausted until it only numbered twelve 
thousand men; and when Ferdinand HI. saw the Swedish 
battalions at the doors of Vienna, the very place in 
which at the moment of his father's accession to the 
throne the first fighting force of the war had appeared, 
he was glad to ask for quarter, and to acknowledge the 
Swedes victorious. 

At Jancowitz, on the 24th February, 1645, the Emperor 
lost his last army, and the whole Austrian territory was 
exposed to the enemy. From this time until the close of 
the war, still nearly three years, nothing was thought of by 
all the provinces of Germany, but peace. 



End of the Thirty Years' War. 303 

Meanwhile many interesting historical events in Europe 
had transpired. Richelieu had died in 1642, Louis XIII. 
had also passed away, and the " Grand Monarch " Louis 
XIV. had begun his infamous reign. The great Elector, 
Frederick William of Brandenburg, had come upon the 
scene, and as his first act had signed the treaty of neu- 
trality with the Swedes. Maximilian of Bavaria, who for 
twenty-eight years had stood unshaken, began to waver. 
The strong tie which bound him to the House of Austria 
had been severed when Ferdinand II. died, and now he 
determined to lay down his arms. Denmark had been 
compelled to make peace, and Saxony consented to a 
truce, while negotiations for a final settlement had been 
going on ever since 1640. Representatives of the three 
governments, Austria, France, and Bavaria, met to talk 
over the question, the 14th of March, 1645 ; and after- 
wards they agreed upon two places of meeting, Osnabriick 
and Miinster. Two localities were necessary, because the 
Swedish ambassadors would not enter any congress in 
which the Pope was represented, and neither France 
nor Sweden would yield a point of etiquette as to their 
comparative rank. The Emperor therefore conducted 
negotiations with Sweden and with the Protestants at 
Osnabri.ick, and then with France and other foreign 
powers at Miinster. The Council was in session three 
years before all parties would agree, yet events in the 
nation were working toward the same end. 

On the 24th of October, 1648, when the Swedish army 
was drawn up before the walls of Prague just where, in 
the beginning, the famous battle of White Mountain had 
been fought by Wallenstein and Tilly against the Pala- 
tinate and Frederick V., the intelligence was brought 
that a treaty had been signed at Miinster called " The 
Peace of Westphalia." The colossal work of bringing 



304 Gerjuany : Her People and TJicir Story. 

about this object, the endless obstacles in its way, and 
the contending interests it was necessary to reconcile, 
were not recognized fully at the time, but the results are 
still apparent. 

By the Peace of Westphalia, the principle was estab- 
lished for all time that men should not be persecuted for 
their religious belief. Although this treaty surrendered 
the most valuable frontier lands of Germany, it fixed for 
the most part the political relations of Europe for nearly 
one hundred and fifty years. The conditions were these : 
France received Lorraine and the cities of Metz, Toul, 
and Verdun ; also Southern Alsace and the fortress of 
Breisach, which had cost Bernard of Weimar his life ; 
also the right of appointing ten governors in Alsace, thus 
giving France practically the control of that province. 

Sweden received the northern half of Pomerania with 
the cities of Stettin, Wismar, and the coast between 
Bremen and Hamburg, with an indemnity of five million 
thalers a year. Her share is said to have exceeded the 
greatest expectations of Gustavus Adolphus when he set 
out to engage in the war. It gave Sweden the command 
of the Baltic, the North Sea, and control of the mouth 
of the Oder, Elbe, and Weser Rivers. Unlike France, 
Sweden kept her possessions in the country, and became 
a member of the Imperial Union. 

Brandenburg received the other half of Pomerania, the 
archbishopric of Magdeburg, the bishoprics of Minden, 
Halberstadt, and some other territory which had belonged 
to the Roman Church. 

Saxony received Lusatia and a part of the province 
of Magdeburg. Additions were made to Mecklenburg, 
Brunswick, and Hesse-Cassel, and the latter was allowed 
an indemnity of six hundred thousand thalers. 

Bavaria received the Upper Palatinate and Baden. 



Peace of Westphalia. 305 

Wiirtemberg and Nassau were restored to their banished 
rulers, and the Electorate was given back to the House 
of Frederick V., to whom the Palatinate had been restored 
earlier by Oxenstiern. 

Switzerland and the Netherlands were now recognized 
for the first time as independent governments. Other 
petty states were confirmed in their rights, and the Cath- 
olics kept all the advantages gained in Bohemia and 
other territories belonging to the House of Hapsburg. 
In matters of religion The Peace of Augsburg was re- 
established, so that, in the State, Catholics and Protes- 
tants had equal rights. 

Although the Peace of Westphalia yielded little more 
to the Protestants than the religious peace granted by 
Charles V. in 1555, the Pope declared the treaty null 
and void, and issued a bull against its observance, but 
after a century of struggle the Church of Rome was 
obliged to give up the conflict ; the bull was not pub- 
lished in Germany, because in all parts of the country 
except Austria, Styria, and the Tyrol, the Catholics had 
suffered as much as the Protestants, and were satisfied 
with any peace that left their religion free. 

By the war, German civilization had been retarded 
more than two hundred years. All branches of industry 
had declined, and commerce had almost entirely ceased. 
Literature and the arts were suppressed, and the modern 
High German, which Luther had made the classic tongue, 
had almost died out. Spanish and Italian had been 
brought in by the Catholics, Swedish and French by the 
Protestants ; and the country was full of foreign words. 
This soon began to be an affectation with the nobility. 
Wallenstein's letters to the Emperor are said to have 
been a curious mixture of German, French, Spanish, 
Italian, and Latin. A hundred years afterwards Fred- 



306 Gennany : Her People and Their Story. 

erick the Great gave himself up almost entirely to French 
in literature. He boasted at that time that he had never 
read a German book during his youth, and that he could 
not speak his own language well in manhood. 

During the last ten or twelve years of the war, the 
soldiers were nothing but highway robbers who resorted 
to every means to force the country people to give up 
the remnant of their property. By mutilation and tor- 
ture the inhabitants were driven into the mountains, 
where they lived as half savages, or died tragic deaths. 
When the war closed, the armies were still quartered on 
the people, and finally divided into bands of plunderers, 
■who destroyed whatever was left in the land. All the 
provinces of Germany had been laid waste to such an 
extent that from the original millions the inhabitants 
could be counted aftei the war by thousands. 

Saxony had lost nine hundred thousand lives in two 
years. Augsburg had diminished from eighty thousand 
to eighteen thousand, Wiirtemberg from five hundred 
thousand to forty-eight thousand. Berlin at the close 
of the war is said to have contained only three hundred 
citizens, the Palatinate of the Rhine but two hundred 
farmers. Thousands of villages in all parts of the coun- 
try had but four or five families left. Franconia was so 
depopulated that an assembly in Nuremberg ordered the 
Catholic priests to marry, and permitted all other men 
to have two wives; for the whole Empire was reduced 
from thirty million to twelve million inhabitants. It then 
embraced two hundred and three states, fifty-one impe- 
rial cities, twenty-four Catholic principalities, twenty-four 
princes with seats in the Diet, sixty-two counts, nine 
electorates, and one thousand knights. 

The livestock in many districts was exterminated, and 
grain could not be obtained in sufficient quantities to 



State of the Country. 307 

sow, large tracts of land having deteriorated into pas- 
turage ; wherever the army had passed, the vineyards and 
orchards had been destroyed. In 1637, the year that 
Ferdinand died, want was so great that men devoured 
each other, hunting down human beings like deer or 
rabbits. Suicide was common in some of the islands ; 
and poor creatures were often found with their mouths 
full of grass, while others tried to sustain life by knead- 
ing bread from earth. The prosperity which existed at 
the beginning of the war, in 16 18, was never restored 
until 1848. 

During the whole conflict, only two commanders, Gus- 
tavus Adolphus and Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, pre- 
served discipline among the troops, or tried to prevent 
their plundering and laying waste the land. The records 
of history show that Rome, under its worst Emperors, the 
persecution of the Christians in the reign of Nero and 
Diocletian, the invasion of the Huns, the long struggle 
of Guelfs and Ghibellines, — all together caused no such 
desolation. All this time the nobles and instigators of 
the war were living in luxury, and the sound of revelry 
was heard each night in their dwellings. 

The power of the Holy German Empire was now noth- 
ing but a shadow, although it was composed of many 
separate states. The ambition of the Hapsburgs, together 
with other debilitating causes, had brought it low. Each 
little state had become an independent nation ; and the 
petty princes vied with each other in imitating Louis XIV. 
by setting up a court of their own, the nobility compos- 
ing their suite. 

The first signs of revival in political life was the organ- 
izing of guards against the bandits into which the soldiers 
had developed during the war. Then people began to 
return to their desolate homes; immigrants came to settle 



3o8 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

and reclaim lost land, and the rabble in general brought 
the proceeds of their plunder, and gradually new com- 
munities were formed on the ruins of the old. 

In the year 1650, for the first time the people, the 
most of whom had been born in these years of disaster, 
realized that the time of trouble and despair was a thing 
of the past. But it was long before the barbarism, which 
the influence of the army had engendered, gave place 
to systematic labor and civic life. 

The cities had shared in the general demoralization; 
and when peace came, that independence which had 
been conspicuous in former years was found to have 
passed away. 

German traffic was also destroyed. The changed rela- 
tion of things had set the tide of commerce in another 
direction; for now, since France and Sweden held the 
first places in Europe, and controlled it to a great degree, 
the coast trade was distributed more widely in that direc- 
tion. Since their freedom, the Netherlands and Eng- 
land were on a commercial equality, and the Hanseatic 
League, so long the pride of the Northern Seas, sank 
into insignificance. 

It was not the peasants alone who had felt the reverses 
of the war; knighthood, which had been gradually van- 
ishing, now passed away. 

In a word, with the imperial unity of the nation, Ger- 
man life was dead. It was Voltaire who said a century 
later that the Holy Roman Empire had become neither 
holy nor Roman nor an Empire. 



Genealogy of the United Houses. 309 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

GENEALOGY OF THE BRANDENBURG AND HOHENZOLLERN 

UNITED HOUSES. FREDERICK WILLIAM, THE GREAT 

ELECTOR. LEOPOLD I. (eMPEROR). AGGRESSIVE WARS 

OF LOUIS XIV. DEATH OF GREAT ELECTOR. 

1648 — 1688 A.D. 

THE territory of Brandenburg was the home oi the 
Suevi in Caesar's time. Afterwards, when Charle- 
magne was fortifying Germany against the Slavonic tribes, 
among other frontier districts he formed a Saxon Mark 
which was the germ from which Brandenburg sprung. 

In 928 A.D., during the reign of Henry the Fowler, that 
sovereign reconquered the Havelii, and marching on the 
ice, took the fortified city of Brennabor (Brandenburg). 

When Lothair, in 1125, was elected to succeed Henry 
v., he made his son-in-law Duke of Saxony; but the 
northern part, called North Mark, he set apart, and gave 
to his friend Albert the Bear. It was Albert who first 
assumed the title Margrave of Brandenburg. All these 
events have been noticed earlier in their order. 

It has been mentioned also that, in 141 1, Emperor 
Sigismund, being in need of ready money, borrowed one 
hundred thousand florins of Frederick of HohenzoUern, 
the Burgrave of Nuremberg; and that in the time of Ru- 
dolf of Hapsburg, another Frederick, Burgrave of Nurem- 
berg, the founder of the House of HohenzoUern, had also 
appeared. The latter was the brother-in-law of Rudolf 
of Hapsburg, and advocated his election when he received 



3IO Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

the vote which made him Emperor. But the Hohenzol- 
lern House took its rise before the time of Charlemagne, 
in the small principality of Hohenzollern, which is 
almost enclosed in the kingdom of Wiirtemberg. The 
ruins of the old castle, which was the residence of the 
counts of Zollern even before the age of Charlemagne, 
still stand upon the summit of a steep mountain called 
Zollerberg. On account of its height the name became 
Hohenzollern; though some critic declares it was by 
reason of the high duties, Z^// being the word in German 
for "duty." 

In 1 41 5 Emperor Sigismund, never having cancelled 
the debt of one hundred thousand florins mentioned 
above, offered to sell Brandenburg to the Burgrave of 
Nuremberg of that time for an additional sum of three 
hundred thousand florins. The terms were accepted ; and 
Frederick, the Burgrave, having settled in the little state, 
ruled efficiently the united houses of Brandenburg and 
Hohenzollern. In 1440 he was followed by Frederick II, 



1415-1440 
1440-1470 
1470-14"' 

1486-1499 

1499-1535 
1535-1571 

1571-1598 
1 598-1608 
1608-1619 
1619-1640 
I 640- I 688 



Frederick I. (Burgrave of Nuremberg.) 

Frederick II. (The Man of Iron.) 

Albert Achilles. 

(All three distinguished themselves by daring deeds.) 

John Cicero. (There is said never to have been a 

worthless Hohenzollern.) 
Joachim I. 
Joachim II. (He was one of the first princes to 

espouse the Reformation.) 
John George. 
Joachim Frederick. 
John Sigismund. 

George William (of Thirty Years' War fame). 
Frederick William. (The Great Elector.) 



In 1 614 Cleves fell to the House of Brandenburg, and 
in 1 6 18, through the wife of John Sigismund, Prussia 



Genealogy of the United Hoiises. 3 1 1 

also became a part of that province. Prussia was for- 
merly land belonging to the German order of Teutonic 
knights, comprising the territory on the Baltic, now East 
and West Prussia. At the time of the Crusades it was 
inhabited by a heathen tribe called the Borussi (hence 
the name Prussia). It was after the Crusades that the 
Teutonic knights, then a powerful and corrupt order, 
conquered the Borussi, and for a while ruled over a wide 
territory. Their capital was Marienburg near Dantzig, 
where a stately castle still perpetuates their memory. In 
the fifteenth century the people of this district were in- 
volved in a war with Poland which wrested from them a 
part of their land, the latter allowing them to hold the 
remainder only as a fief. At the time the Great Elector 
succeeded his father, the Duchy of Prussia was still sub- 
ject to Poland, the latter having extorted from the Elec- 
tor the most arbitrary conditions before it could be 
restored even as a fief. 

Brandenburg was so large when George William took 
it, and he was so much influenced by his Catholic advi- 
ser Schwarzenburg, that he was always wavering during 
the Thirty Years' War; therefore his lands were de- 
spoiled by Mansfeld and Wallenstein in turn, and final- 
ly by the Swedes; so that when the Great Elector took it 
he found it in ruins, and altogether in a degraded state. 
It was a desert, and for a distance of fifty miles not a 
single village was to be seen. He had an army, to be 
sure ; but it was small, demoralized, and mutinous. His 
territory extended east of Berlin four hundred English 
miles ; but Pomerania and a considerable part of the 
Mark of Brandenburg had been seized by the Swedes, 
and was governed as a Swedish province. The Cleve 
lands had been taken by Holland, and were still claimed 
by the Count Palatine Wolfgang of Neuburg. 



312 Gcrviajiy : Her People and Their Story. 

George William had abandoned the throne in despair, 
and his extensive estates lay uncultivated and unclaimed; 
for the proprietors, with their entire families, had often- 
times during the Thirty Years' War been annihilated. 
Crowds without homes wandered over the territory in 
search of food, and George William had left his treasury 
empty. 

When his father died, Frederick William I., afterwards 
the Great Elector, was only twenty years of age. Born 
two years after the war began, his boyhood had been 
spent within the sound of war and din of battle; and with 
his family, he had been hurried from one castle to an- 
other, to escape the horrors which visited prince and 
peasant alike. 

His greatest enemy was the Jesuit Schwarzenburg, who 
was continually rebuked by the boy's nobility of soul. 
On account of this antipathy he was fortunately removed 
from his father's court, and thus escaped the evil influ- 
ences prevailing there at this time. Part of his youth 
was spent with his Christian mother in old lonely castles 
among silent, solitary forests, studying earnestly, and 
thinking his own thoughts, while he heard the tumult of 
armies only at a distance. In such an atmosphere of 
religion and virtue, the foundation of a Christian char- 
acter was laid, which also was fortified against tempta- 
tion at the court of Holland, where his father sent him 
when a boy. In Holland he had become familiar with 
the workings of the little state and its wise, new laws. 
He had found out the secrets of ocean commerce, and 
caught the spirit of good government and order which 
religion and civil freedom give. The lessons the young 
man learned here he never forgot throughout his prosper- 
ous reign. Sometimes he accompanied his father on 
journeys, studying the seacoasts and the sandy marshes, 



Frederick Williavi, tJie Great Elector. 313 

until the large views he imbibed through these varied 
experiences made him familiar with the resources of his 
kingdom, and broadened him into the great man he 
finally became. 

When he first became Elector, Frederick William had 
concluded an armistice with Oxenstiern which lasted to 
the end of the war. By this means he both relieved his 
land from foreign soldiery, and made himself independent 
of the Hapsburg House. At the age of twenty-six he 
had married Louisa Henrietta, the great-granddaughter 
of the illustrious William of Orange. This proved a 
happy matrimonial union, as well as a wise political alli- 
ance, and through the marriage he added to the bless- 
ing of a devout mother, a Christian wife. The life of 
Louisa Henrietta was one labor for charity, and her clear 
mind kept her husband from the mortifying entangle- 
ments in which he was inveigled after her death. Among 
her charitable deeds was the founding of the Oranien- 
burger Orphan Asylum in Berlin; and one of her hymns, 
"Jesus my Trust " {Jesus nieiiie Ziiversic/it), has perhaps 
been more frequently sung in Germany during the last 
two hundred years than any other. 

During the reactions from the troublous times which 
had tried men by the fervent heat of disaster, when 
France had gained the foremost place among the nations 
of Europe, and Sweden held the second, the German 
princes were spending their time imitating the vanity and 
splendor of the court of Louis XIV. at Versailles. On 
the other hand, the Great Elector was trying to restore 
order, and lighten the burden of his afflicted subjects. 

He now proved himself the worthy successor of Fred- 
erick HohenzoUern. By his system of taxation he 
increased the income of the State from two hundred and 
eighty thousand to more than a million thalers, and by 



314 Gerviany : Her People and Their Story. 

the best possible economy he enlarged his army to twenty- 
seven thousand men. Agriculture increased, the land 
improved, and crowds of immigrants from Bohemia, 
Savoy, France, and other lands came in, glad to be gov- 
erned by a Christian prince. Post-roads were built, 
trades flourished, and villages made the landscape smile. 
Where Tilly and Wallenstein had burned and pillaged, 
old soldiers now beat out ploughs, and shod the farmer's 
horse. The earliest Prussian school dates from the 
Great Elector ; and he built a canal connecting the Havel, 
Spree, and Oder, which bears his name. When he saw the 
first boat pass the old Schloss of Berlin from Breslau to 
Hamburg, all the people shared his pleasure and delight. 

The Great Elector was piqued when at the Peace of 
Westphalia he obtained only Upper Pomerania, since 
Bogislaw XIV. at his death, in 1637, had given him the 
whole. Although what he received as an equivalent was 
fine territory, he earnestly desired Stettin and the Baltic 
coast. The Great Elector wielded the sceptre nearly fifty 
years, during which time there was scarcely a diplo- 
matic act in his government which was not connected 
with Louis XIV. At this time Leopold I., who reigned 
nearly fifty years, had just become German Emperor. 

In 1654 Queen Christina of Sweden abdicated, and her 
cousin, Charles X., ascended the throne. John Casimer, 
the King of Poland, refused to acknowledge Charles X. ; 
and war was declared by the two powers on each side of 
the Elector's domain. 

The Great Elector fought with the Swedes at War- 
saw, and won the day. Afterwards Charles X., by the 
Treaty of Labian, which was important in its results, 
gave Prussia to Brandenburg, including the bishopric of 
Ermeland. The King of Poland was obliged to accede 
to the same terms in a treaty at Wechlau. The Elector 



Leopold I. {Emperor). 315 

then formed an alliance with the Emperor Leopold in 
1637 ; and the former, in spite of the machinations of 
France, helped to make Leopold secure in his place 
on the throne. This act on the part of the Elector was 
afterwards rewarded by base ingratitude on the part of 
LeoDold. 

Charles X. showed splendid military genius when at- 
tacked by the Danes, He expelled them from Holstein, 
Schleswig, and Jutland, and in 1658 crossed over into 
Zealand, and obliged the Danes to make a treaty with 
him. The Great Elector assisted him in taking these 
places in the battle of Nyberg, 1659. At the death of 
Charles X., February 23, 1660, a peace was accepted by 
the regency ; and Poland confirmed the Elector in his 
rights to Prussia, where he already reigned as sovereign, 
though until the treaties of Labian and Wechlen he had 
nominally been subject to that kingdom. 

After twelve years of peace, the Elector espoused the 
cause of Holland against Louis XIV. Austria behaved 
so badly towards him at this time that, on being attacked 
by Louis XIV. at Cleves and in Westphalia, he was obliged 
to accept a treaty of neutrality in 1673. The Great Elec- 
tor did not then know that Leopold had made a secret 
truce with France, and that he was being betrayed by him. 

In 1675 the Great Elector, with only seven thousand 
men, overthrew the Swedes at Fehrbellin, .and by this 
victory laid the foundation of Prussia's greatness. The 
current of success changed three or four times in this 
battle, and several of the noblest Brandenburg officers fell 
at the moment when most needed. All seemed lost when 
the Elector cried, "The divine power makes us victo- 
rious through Jesus Christ ; " and at the head of the 
nearest regiment, whose officer had fallen, he placed him- 
self, shouting, " Courage, brave soldiers! I will be your 



3i6 Gertnany : Her People and TJicir Stoiy. 

captain ; follow me to victory, or I will die with you." 
Then the Elector rode into the midst of the enemy 
until he was completely surrounded. His death seemed 
certain ; but nine dragoons cut their way to their com- 
mander, and he was rescued by Emanuel Froben, who 
sacrificed his life by the deed. The fame of this achieve- 
ment gained the Great Elector splendid renown in Eu- 
rope, and Brandenburg was ever after recognized as an 
independent power. 

This was the first time the Swedes had been defeated 
since Gustavus Adolphus brought his army into Germany. 
By this victory the Great Elector delivered his country 
from every foreign foe, and in seven days not an enemy 
was to be seen in the marches. Together with Denmark, 
in 1676, he conquered Lower Pomerania, took Griefswald, 
and even the doughty Stralsund yielded ; so that, since 
Gustavus Adolphus set out, the Swedes for the first time 
owned no land in the Empire. But in the Elector's tem- 
porary absence, the Swedes and the forces of Louis XIV. 
overran Prussia. They were beaten again, however ; and 
had not the allies deserted him, the Great Elector would 
have still held all the land he had gained. At this time 
the conduct of Louis XIV., which resulted in the Peace 
of Nymwegen in 1678, was marked by unparalleled inso- 
lence. The people made a pun on the word Nym-wegoi, 
and called it the "peace of take-away;" for the repre- 
sentatives of Holland, France, Spain, Sweden, and the 
Empire had concluded this peace at Nymwegen without 
regard to Brandenburg. The treaty stipulated that all 
the territory awarded to Sweden by the Treaty of West- 
phalia, just regained by the sword of the Elector, should 
be surrendered to Sweden, while at the same time a 
large French force advanced to the Weser for the pur- 
pose of protecting the Swedes in the rights guaranteed. 



Aggressive Wars of Louis XIV. 317 

The emotions of the Elector at the conclusion of this 
treaty can hardly be imagined. Flushed with victory, and 
at the head of a large army, he considered for some time 
the question of defending his rights by the sword ; but on 
further reflection he decided to sign at Saint-Germaine- 
en-Laye, the treaty which concluded the war. It was a 
surrender of the most glorious conquest of his life. As 
he put his name to the document, he quoted aloud the 
lines of Virgil, " Exoriare allqiiis iiostris ex osibus tcltor " 
(An avenger will some day arise from our bones). Al- 
though his enemies had torn from him his well-won con- 
quests, they could not take away his glory, the esteem of 
his army and subjects, nor the respect which was felt for 
him all over Europe. 

Louis XIV. caused a colossal statue of himself to be 
erected standing on the necks of four slaves, representing 
the Emperor, the Elector of Brandenburg, Spain, and 
Holland ; and although the German rulers resented his 
treatment, they were at this time almost entirely in his 
hands. 

In less than a year after the Treaty of Nymwegen, the 
Elector took the most far-reaching step of his life. He 
concluded a secret Treaty of Alliance with Louis XIV., 
in which the latter guaranteed the possessions the former 
had gained for ten years, agreeing also to pay one hun- 
dred thousand francs a year. The treaty was signed 
October, 1679, "^^^ ^^ consequence of it soon began to 
appear. 

In the autumn of 1681, when nearly all the merchants 
in Strasburg were attending a fair at Frankfort, Louis 
XIV., encouraged by his alliance with the Great Elector, 
suddenly appeared before the town with an army col- 
lected in secret. Three of the magistrates had obtained 
possession of the city by bribery, and the force Louis had 



3i8 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

outside obliged it to surrender, so that on the 23d of 
October the French army entered in triumph. The ac- 
count of the plot by means of which Strasburg was given 
up is as follows : Louvois, the French Minister of War, 
one day summoned a man by the name of Chamilly and 
said, " Start this evening for Basle. On the fourth day 
from this, punctually at two o'clock, station yourself on the 
old Rhine bridge with note-book in hand ; mark down 
everything you see going on for two hours. At four 
o'clock return, travelling night and day without inter- 
mission." At the day and hour appointed, Chamilly es- 
tablished himself on the bridge, and noted down the 
following: First he saw a market-wagon drive by, then an 
old woman with a basket of fruit, and following, an urchin 
trundling his hoop ; next an old gentleman in blue coat 
jogs past on a gray mare. Three o'clock chimes from the 
Cathedral tower, and at the last stroke a tall fellow in 
yellow waistcoat and breeches saunters up, goes to the 
middle of the bridge, lounges over, looks at the water, 
then strikes three hearty blows with his stick on the par- 
apet. Chamilly writes it all down, and at four o'clock 
jumps into his carriage and at midnight two days after, 
having travelled incessantly, presents himself before the 
minister in Paris, ashamed of having such trifles to record. 
When Louvois' eye caught the mention of the man in yel- 
low array a gleam of joy flashed across his face. He 
rushed to the king, aroused him from his sleep, spoke 
with him a moment in private, immediately after which, 
couriers were despatched with sealed orders. Eight days 
after Strasburg surrendered to the French, capitulating 
the 3d of September 1681. The three strokes of the 
stick given by the fellow in yellow breeches was the signal 
that the magistrates were ready to deliver up the town to 
the French. 



Aggressive Wars of Louis XIV. 319 

The great Cathedral, which had for many years been 
held by the Protestants, was given up to the bishop, who 
said when he saw Louis XIV., "Lord, now lettest thou 
thy servant depart in peace." All the Protestants were 
deprived of their offices, and the clergymen were driven 
from the city. French names were given to the streets, 
and the inhabitants were commanded to lay aside their 
German dress and adopt French costumes. 

Soon after this the Elector saw his mistake in allow- 
ing his naturally fiery temper to get the better of his 
Christian principles ; and when Louis XIV. stirred up 
the Hungarians, who were already incensed against Leo- 
pold, he offered troops to help ward off the Turks, but 
Leopold, fearing treachery, refused to accept. The Hun- 
garians were angered because Leopold had sent two 
hundred and fifty of their Protestant pastors to row as 
galley slaves in Naples ; and spurred on by Louis, they 
revolted, and called in the Sultan Mohammed IV., who 
sent his Grand Vizier to invade Austria at the head of 
two hundred thousand men. Leopold fled with his fam- 
ily, leaving Vienna to its fate. 

For two months Count Starenburg and Bishop Kolo- 
nitsch, with a brave garrison of six thousand soldiers and 
seven thousand armed citizens, held the fortifications 
against the overwhelming force of the enemy. The Aus- 
trian army was outside, and the Duke of Lorraine, with 
whom were the young Prince Eugene of Savoy, the 
Elector of Saxony with forces of his own, and John 
Sobiesky, Poland's great king. All these, with twenty 
thousand Poles, arrived in Vienna just in time for the 
decisive battle, which was fought on the 12th of Septem- 
ber, 1683. On the night previous, Starenburg, becoming 
discouraged, thought they could not hold out another day; 
accordingly he sent up a volley of rockets from the tower 



320 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

of the Cathedral, and to his surprise it was answered 
by five return volleys from Kohlenberg hill. He knew 
by this that help was at hand, and immediately sent a 
messenger to swim across the the Danube by night with 
a letter to the Duke of Lorraine, saying, " No time to 
be lost. No time indeed to be lost." Lorraine and So- 
biesky, with their united forces, burst upon the enemy; 
and when the Turks saw that there was no more hope, 
they murdered all the captives, and all their own women 
who could not be carried away, but left five hundred 
poor babies, whom the good Bishop Kolonitsch baptized 
and brought up at his own expense. The Turkish camp, 
with its rich booty, was taken, and among many other 
things, so much coffee that it became a common drink; 
and the first coffee-house in Europe was opened by the 
man who swam across the Danube with the letter saying 
that no time was to be lost. 

Among the spoils a plan of Louis XIV.'s was found for 
conducting the siege. Sobiesky rode into Vienna, where 
the people were so glad and thankful at their deliver- 
ance that they kissed his horse and sword, and called 
him their father. Leopold, who had run away at the 
first danger, was too jealous to thank his benefactors; 
and he even treated Sobiesky and the Poles with cold- 
ness and incivility. After all was over, he came into 
Vienna barefoot, with a taper in his hand, and went 
straight to the Cathedral for prayers; but he would not 
allow the sick and wounded among the Poles to be 
brought into the city, nor the dead to be buried in its 
graveyards. 

Then Leopold L took vengeance on the Hungarian 
nobles, setting up a tribunal at Eperies, where there were 
so many nobles executed by an Italian named Carraffa 
that the court was called "The Shambles of Eperies." 



Death of the Great Elector. 321 

After this, in 16S5, fearing Brandenburg no longer, and 
influenced by Madame Maintenon, who was an instru- 
ment of the Jesuits, and whom he had recently married, 
Louis XIV. perpetrated his crowning act of infamy by 
revoking the Edict of Nantes. Henry IV. of France, 
more than eighty years before, in 1598, had decreed this 
edict, by which the Protestants had enjoyed liberty of 
conscience, peace, and equal religious rights with the 
Catholics. These rights were now taken away, the Prot- 
estant places of worship closed, and in order to coerce 
the Protestants back into the Roman Church, a system of 
terror commenced, while at the same time they were for- 
bidden to emigrate. The French Protestants, or Hugue- 
nots as they were called, were the most enterprising 
artisans and manufacturers in the kingdom, but much 
to the detriment of France were forced by persecution to 
seek refuge in England and Holland and America, where 
they received homes, and helped to build up the indus- 
trial prosperity of these nations. The Great Elector 
generously opened his lands to them, and Brandenburg 
received all who sought shelter there, fifteen or twenty 
thousand refugees, who brought with them their manu- 
facturing art and skill. 

As the Great Elector came nearer and nearer the un- 
seen world, he more and more felt ashamed of the role he 
had been playing with Louis XIV., and his anger towards 
Leopold I. began to abate. Among the many acts of 
duplicity committed by Emperor Leopold was the atti- 
tude he had assumed when he bestowed the Silesian 
Duchies, whose conquest afterwards caused so much 
trouble, upon a Roman Catholic prince. The Great 
Elector now sought a reconciliation with him, accepting 
an insufficient indemnification by receiving the Schwiebu 
district, a small territory adjoining Brandenburg, in place 



322 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

of the Duchies. Finally the Emperor was so harassed 
that he was obliged to accept eight thousand of the 
Elector's army, who distinguished themselves by courage 
and discipline, and rendered him great service in fighting 
the insurgent Hungarians as well as the Turks. As secu- 
rity for the debt thus incurred, Leopold gave the Elector 
Emden and Gretsyl, and from these places the latter sent 
vessels out to colonies which he had established on the 
African gold coast, where he built a fortress called 
"Great Fredericksburg." He also purchased from the 
Danes St. Thomas in the West Indies; but neither of 
these colonies prospered, and after the Great Elector died 
they, for a time, were given up. 

Almost the last generous act of the Great Elector was 
assisting William HI. of Orange in deposing and suc- 
ceeding his father-in-law, James II. of England, who was 
a Catholic, thus increasing the animosity of Louis XIV., 
since James II. was under the control of the latter. 

Just at this moment the Great Elector died, at the age 
of sixty-eight years, and thus all his schemes in con- 
nection with the mighty sovereign of France came to an 
end. On the yth of May, 1688, he assembled for the 
last time his council at the old palace at Potsdam. He 
spoke to those assembled around his dying bed, and ex- 
pressed his satisfaction in being able to surrender to his 
successor, as a well-governed, united, and prosperous land, 
the country which was so devastated when he came into 
power. To the last he left no duty as a sovereign unful- 
filled. On the yth he gave to his guards as their parole 
the word "Amsterdam ;" on the 8th "London ; " on the 
9th, having taken leave of his family, in the calm posses- 
sion of his intellect, he uttered the words, "I know that 
my Redeemer liveth." This was the parole for the ninth 
day, and with it on his lips, he entered the gates of heaven. 



DeatJi of the Great Elector. 323 

The Great Elector was the only distinguished ruler of 
Brandenburg of the seventeenth century. By the Peace of 
Westphalia the German Empire had been rent asunder; 
and after this the princes became sovereigns in their own 
domains, and on the wreck of the Empire, Brandenburg 
built up a new power. The Great Elector kept any single 
sovereign from overshadowing Germany ; and while he 
lived, the vast designs of Louis XIV. were for the most 
part checked, since with few exceptions he gave him no 
quarter. In his dealings with foreign nations, and in his 
own internal affairs, he was careful that no extravagance 
was committed. He was sparing in his personal ex- 
penses, and used the resources so well, that although the 
people were taxed heavily, they always prospered. His 
mind was far-reaching, and his court imposing, magnifi- 
cent, and even ceremonious; but he was simple and ingen- 
uous in his own home. A skilful diplomat, he was not 
unacquainted with the cunning, and the unprincipled 
statesmanship of his time. Yet he was so natural in his 
tastes that he loved to water his flowers in the garden at 
Berlin, and nothing pleased him better than to fish in the 
Carp Pool at Potsdam. While he was a distinguished 
warrior, and spent his strength in founding a great king- 
dom, he delighted in buying pets in the market-place, and 
carrying them home in his own arms. Though judged by 
the political standards of to-day, he has been criticised 
for many too diplomatic acts, yet in his heart he was 
a man of genuine piety. At his death, in 1688, after a 
reign of forty-eight years, he left a kingdom which reached 
from its capital, Konigsberg, to the Rhine, and which 
received its title under his son. 



324 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

ELECTOR FREDERICK III. BECOMES FREDERICK I. OF PRUS- 
SIA. WAR OF SPANISH SUCCESSION. LAST PERIOD OF 

LOUIS XIV.'S ASSOCIATION WITH GERMAN HISTORY. — 
DEATH OF LEOPOLD I. — JOSEPH I. — CHARLES VI. 

1688—1715 A.D. 

THE Elector Palatine, the grandson of the "Winter 
King," had died in 1605. Since the latter had 
left no children, Louis XIV. hoped that Elizabeth, the 
sister of the Elector Palatine and wife of the Duke of 
Orleans, his brother, would inherit a great part of the 
Palatinate. Louis claimed as her right various fortresses 
which would let the French into the heart of the country. 
But the claim was refused by Leopold; and, in 1686, to 
defend himself, he made an alliance with Holland, Spain, 
Sweden, and the princes of the Empire against the agres- 
sions of France. But as no agreement could be made, 
Louis XIV., since he had little hope of conquering it, 
decided to despoil the Rhine territory. He immediately 
sent his marshal, Duras, to invade the country, with 
orders to destroy what he could not seize. 

No more wanton and barbarous deed was ever perpe- 
trated than the " Great Monarch " was guilty of when he 
tore up the beautiful vines for which the Palatinate was 
celebrated, and uprooted the fruit-trees, burning the vil- 
lages to the ground. Four hundred thousand persons 
were made beggars, and many were slain in their own 
homes. That most splendid monument of the Middle 



Frederick I. of Prussia. 325 

Ages, the Castle of Heidelberg, was blown up with gun- 
powder. The ruins are seen to-day, much as he left 
them ; and all the towers, especially the " Blown-up 
Tower," are pointed out to the traveller, the most of 
them still retaining the Wittelsbach family names. The 
memory of the French general, Melac, by this act has 
been rendered odious for all time. The people of Mann- 
heim were compelled to level their fortifications, and the 
city was burned. Speyer, with its grand Cathedral in which 
so many monarchs reposed, was razed to the ground. 
The silver coffins of the old sovereigns were plundered, 
their bodies taken up, and their sacred dust scattered 
to the wind. The soldiers are said to have played ball 
with the skulls of the old Emperors, those of Rudolf of 
Hapsburg and Henry IV. being among the number. 

After the attack of Louis XIV. on the Palatinate, the 
German Empire raised an army of sixty thousand men to 
make war on France. The Empire also had other wars 
on her hands ; for there was fighting with the Turks, and 
in Southern Germany and Flanders. At the same time 
there were battles in Spain and Savoy, and sea-fights in 
the British Channel, but no decisive encounter occurred. 
All parties were exhausted ; and the turmoil subsided at 
the Treaty of Ryswick, concluded on the 20th of Sep- 
tember, 1697. By its provisions France kept Strasburg 
and the most of Alsace, but had to surrender Freiburg 
and the other territory Louis XIV. had seized east of the 
Rhine. Lorraine was not given up until some years after- 
wards, when Leszczynski ceded it to France. Although 
it was given to him at first to pacify him for the loss of 
Poland, soon it became practically under French control. 
The most unsatisfactory clause in this treaty was that 
which ordered that the districts which had been made 
Catholic by force were to remain so. This was called 



326 Gerviany: Her People and Their Story. 

the Ryswick clause, and is said to have been put in by 
the Emperor Leopold. 

In 1697, after the death of John Sobiesky, Augustus 
II. of Saxony, called the Strong, purchased his election 
as King of Poland by changing his religion to the Catho- 
lic faith, and by enormous bribes to the Electors. He was 
one of the most distinguished men of his time ; affable, 
attractive, and brave in battle. Carlyle said of him that 
" he lived in this world regardless of expense." He sur- 
passed in extravagance his predecessor, John George II., 
who squandered all his land in banquets and in the col- 
lection of curiosities. Augustus the Strong also had a 
mania for collecting ; for through him the present gallery 
at Dresden was endowed with some of its choicest pic- 
tures, and the city with other artistic objects. To fin- 
ish his education, his father had given him the benefits 
of travel ; and visiting all the courts of Europe, including 
Rome, he ransacked Italy to obtain for Dresden its gems 
of art. His son Augustus afterwards completed the col- 
lection, which at the present time ranks among the very 
finest in the world. 

In compliance with the demands of Charles XII. of 
Sweden, Augustus II. was afterwards obliged to resign 
the sovereignty of Poland to Stanislaus Leszczynski ; but 
by his alliance with Peter the Great, he expelled Lesz- 
czynski and recovered the crown. 

From the time of the last decade of the seventeenth 
century, the National German Diet, being no longer at- 
tended by the Emperor and ruling princes, but by their 
representatives, became useless. The Emperor cared so 
little for the rest of the Empire, except Austria, that his 
title was merely nominal. It brought him only thirteen 
thousand florins (^5,000) annually. The Electors, how- 
ever, had now become nine in number. 



Frederick I. of Prussia. 327 

In the last half of the seventeenth century, although 
there was considerable progress in culture in the other 
parts of the world, in Germany learning, literature, and 
the arts received little attention. No writer had distin- 
guished himself for nearly half a century except Leibnitz, 
and he was reckoned as the only intellectual man of the 
time. The lower classes were so oppressed by the nobil- 
ity that they had made little advancement since the close 
of the Thirty Years' War. 

Charles II. of Spain had for a long time been in fail- 
ing health; and since he had no heir, it was becoming 
the great question in Europe what should become of his 
throne. There was no male heir in the family; but there 
had been two sisters, the eldest of whom, wife of Louis 
XIV., had resigned the right to the Spanish crown. The 
younger, Margaret, first wife of Emperor Leopold I., had 
left a daughter, now married to the Elector of Bavaria, 
whose son was Ferdinand. The mothers of Leopold and 
Louis XIV. had also been Spanish princesses; but France 
was the most powerful nation at this time, and in order 
to preserve the balance of power, the sovereigns of Eu- 
rope opposed a French prince's accession to the Spanish 
throne, especially as the heir was only a child, and the 
real ruler would be Louis XIV. The matter was made 
all right for a time by the first will of Charles II. of 
Spain, in accordance with which the crown was to descend 
to Margaret's grandson, Ferdinand of Bavaria; he died, 
however, shortly after, it was thought by poison adminis- 
tered either at the instigation of the French or Austrian 
rulers, who were both equally interested in the result. 
Emperor Leopold, being of Spanish descent through his 
mother, desired the crown of Spain for his son, Archduke 
Charles; and afterwards, in order to bring about his suc- 
cession, he offered to make the Electorates of Branden- 



328 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

burg and Saxony kingdoms, in exchange for their help in 
carrying on the war of the Spanish Succession. 

When Charles II. died, in 1700, he again apparently 
settled the important question concerning his heir, by 
appointing Philip of Anjou, the grandson of Louis XIV., 
to succeed to his throne. 

The beginning of the eighteenth century opened for 
Europe with a lowery sky. Charles XII. of Sweden and 
Peter the Great of Russia were fighting for the " Balance 
of Power." Leopold I. declared war against France, still 
hoping to gain the succession for his son. England and 
Holland made an alliance with him, and also most of the 
German states. Thus it will be seen that the eighteenth 
century began and ended in strife and bloodshed. 

In the beginning of the war of the Spanish Succession, 
two men of the greatest military genius appear, — Prince 
Eugene of Savoy, and John Churchill, Duke of Marl- 
borough. These great generals, while fighting over this 
question which was moving all Europe, kept themselves 
in harmony for many years. 

When the will of Charles II. was acknowledged, Louis 
XIV. sent his grandson off to take possession of Spain. 
At the same time Emperor Leopold despatched Prince 
Eugene over the Alps to drive the French out of Northern 
Italy. The latter was victorious in this brilliant cam- 
paign, which was as daring and hazardous as those of 
Napoleon in the same country a century later. In this 
case, Eugene of Savoy was obliged to transport cannon and 
supplies through paths only known to chamois hunters. 

Prince Eugene of Savoy was a little thin man, who in 
his battles wore a blue coat with brass buttons, and an 
enormous cocked hat. When he applied to Louis XIV. 
for an appointment in the army, the latter derided him, 
and called him "the little abbot." Prince Eugene was 



War of Spanish Succession. 329 

brave, wise, and conscientious, and a great general, whose 
career was long and brilliant. In the latter respect he 
was unlike Marlborough, who had two glaring faults, — 
avarice and duplicity. But Marlborough was masterly 
in the management of his army, in battle cool and self- 
possessed, and in diplomacy he had the art of bringing 
all to his views. He added to the characteristics of a 
distinguished and careful commander, a stately bearing 
and a winning address. 

When Louis XIV. refused to give Eugene of Savoy a 
regiment, and the latter entered into the service of Aus- 
tria, he rose to distinction in fighting the Turks. After 
this Louis would have been glad to receive him, and 
made him flattering offers, which he refused. He and the 
Duke of Marlborough joined their forces, in 1704, against 
the French and Bavarian armies in Southern Germany; 
and on August 13, defeated the French general, Tallard, 
at the frightful battle of Blenheim (Hockstadt), which 
was won after great slaughter, and added much glory 
to the cause of the allies. In 1700 England and Hol- 
land, as well as Brandenburg and Saxony, had also joined 
Leopold. 

Frederick III. of Brandenburg had succeeded his father, 
the Great Elector, in 1688. He was a prince of moder- 
ate diplomatic ability, but he carried out his father's 
policy, protecting religious freedom and defending the 
Protestant cause. When Leopold I. offered to make a 
kingdom of his possessions in exchange for his influence 
in the war of the Spanish Succession, Frederick was 
delighted. But the Golden Bull of Charles IV. per- 
mitted only one sovereign, the King of Bohemia, to be 
a member of the Electoral College. Therefore Fred- 
erick was obliged to take the name of his independent 
Duchy of Prussia, and thereby he became " Frederick I. 



330 Gej'juanj : Her People and Their Story. 

of Prussia." Thus the name of Prussia and Prussians, 
which had originated in Borussia, a small tribe of Sla- 
vonic descent, became the appellation for all the lands 
which afterwards comprised the kingdom of this name. 
Prince Eugene, in speaking of the treaty which made 
the Elector king, said, " The Emperor in his own inter- 
est ought to have hanged the minister who counselled 
him to make this concession to the Elector of Branden- 
burg." 

On January i8, 1701, Frederick and his wife were 
crowned with great pomp at Konigsberg, as King and 
Queen of Prussia. Although the importance of the step 
was not fully realized at the time, Frederick the Great 
held that his grandfather had said to his successor by 
that act, "I have attained a title for you; show yourselves 
worthy of it. I have laid the foundation of your great- 
ness; you must finish the work." 

King Frederick I. had the prevailing taste for display, 
and surrounded the new title with royal splendor. He 
was chiefly remarkable as the first King of Prussia. He 
also made himself conspicuous by wasting the resources 
of the kingdom which the Great Elector, his father, had 
husbanded. He erected the Palace of Charlottenburg, 
and commenced to rebuild the royal palace in which all 
the old Electors had taken a hand. This palace has a 
very interesting history ; it is one of the royal residences 
which a legend declares is haunted by a spectre called 
"The White Lady," who periodically appears to portend 
the death of a member of the House of Hohenzollern. 
Tradition says it is the ghost of the Countess Agnes of 
Orlamunde, who murdered her two children in order that 
she might marry the Burgrave Albert of Nuremberg. 

On account of the extravagance of Frederick I., the 
people were burdened by taxes, and the finances went to 



Death of Leopold I. 331 

ruin. The king's last years were saddened by this, as 
well as by sickness and disappointment. He died Feb- 
ruary 25, 1 7 13. Frederick the Great afterwards said of 
his grandfather, '' He was great in small things, but little 
in great things." 

Meanwhile Marlborough and Prince Eugene had gained 
so much renown on the field of Blenheim, where the 
French left fourteen thousand men and lost thirteen thou- 
sand prisoners, that Marlborough was given a dukedom 
by Queen Anne of England, and both he and Eugene were 
made princes of the German Empire. All Europe rang 
with songs celebrating this victory; among them "Marl- 
borough Goes to the War." In this song they called him 
"Malbrook." 

In the year 1705 Leopold I. died. It was said of him 
also that he could not do great things, but that he could 
do little things very well. He played the violin so beau- 
tifully that his music-teacher once said to him, "What a 
pity your Majesty is not a fiddler ! " 

Joseph I., Leopold's son, succeeded him. Instead of 
trying to spy out what Prince Eugene was doing, and 
criticising his method, as his father had done, he at once 
made him his counsellor. This same year Prince Eugene, 
with twenty-four thousand men, went to Italy to assist 
the Austrian garrison at Turin, the capital of Savoy. He 
gained a great victory over the French, literally destroy- 
ing them. He took two hundred and eleven cannon and 
eighty thousand barrels of powder, besides many horses 
and provisions. He was re-enforced by Victor Amadeus 
of Savoy, with thirteen thousand men. The Prussian 
troops distinguished themselves in this siege under Fred- 
erick of Dessau. By this victory Eugene became a hero 
to the German people, and many songs in his honor are 
sung to this day. At one time he conquered the entire 



332 Gcrtnany : Her People and Their Story. 

kingdom of Naples; and for some time the allies, Aus- 
tria, Prussia, Saxony, Holland, and England, held Italy. 

In 1706 the Duke of Marlborough defeated the French 
at Ramillies in the Netherlands; and in 1708 the two 
great generals joined their forces to prosecute the war 
together. Their first victory was at Oudenard ; and in 
1709, at Malplaquet, they defeated the French general, 
Villars. They soon had possession of the Spanish Neth- 
erlands, and Paris was opened to them. 

France was now utterly worn out. Misery and famine 
had taken the place, for the most part, of the old-time 
French splendor. Ever since the year 1708 Louis XIV. 
had been negotiating for peace. All his Spanish posses- 
sions, except Naples and Sardinia, he was ready to give 
up, and also to restore his conquests in Alsace and Lor- 
raine to the German Empire. But the allies, under the 
Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, required that 
the old monarch should drive his grandson, Philip V., 
from the Spanish throne. Finally he even agreed to the 
latter proposition, and also to give a million livres a 
month to defray the expenses of the war, which would, 
under the circumstances, become unavoidable. 

Joseph I. seems to posterity a madman when he refused 
to consider this offer; but he was puffed up with the idea 
that his brother. Archduke Charles, was gaining great 
victories in Spain, the former having already made a tri- 
umphal entry into Madrid. Yet there was no further 
advantage to be gained by prolonging the war, and the 
opportunity of making advantageous terms was lost for 
all time, while the recovery of Alsace and Lorraine was 
postponed a century and a half. The ministry changed 
in England, and Marlborough was recalled. England se- 
cretly began negotiations with France, thus breaking up 
the combination against Louis XIV. 



Joseph I. — Charles VI. 333 

In April, 171 1, Joseph I. died of small-pox, or, as some 
say, by poison. He had no sons ; and his brother Charles 
VI., who had been the Austrian candidate for the Span- 
ish throne, succeeded him. Since Charles VI. at his 
accession possessed all of Austria, he would rule over 
as great an Empire as that of Charles V. in case he 
acquired Spain. The allies did not wish to build up 
such a power ; and England opened negotiations which 
led to the Peace of Utrecht, April 2, 17 13. The treaty 
was between England, Holland, Portugal, Prussia, on 
the one side, and France and Spain on the other. It 
recognized Louis XIV. 's grandson Philip as King of 
Spain, on condition of his renouncing all claims to the 
crown of France for himself and his descendants. Thus 
the Bourbon dynasty was established in Spain, and re- 
mained allied to France through the eighteenth century. 
Charles VI. refused to recognize Philip V. as King of 
Spain, and rejected the Treaty of Utrecht. But Eugene 
continued to fight along the Rhine. 

Louis XIV. was now so old and infirm that he was 
willing to treat for peace even with Austria alone, and 
on March 7, 17 14, signed the Treaty of Rastatt, which 
ended the war of the Spanish Succession. Austria re- 
ceived the Spanish Netherlands, Naples, Milan, Mantua, 
and the Island of Sardinia. Freiburg, Old Breisach, and 
Kehl were restored to Germany. France retained Lan- 
dau, Alsace, and Strasburg. The recovery of Alsace and 
Lorraine to Germany, which might have been effected by 
Joseph I. in 17 10, was lost until 1870. 

By the war of the Spanish Succession, France lost the 
ascendency in Europe. It was now that the *' balance 
of power," which has been a controlling object in diplo- 
macy, was first established. 



334 Gerviany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

FREDERICK WILLIAM I. AN ABSOLUTE MONARCH. THE 

DECLINE OF AUSTRIA. CHARLES VI. THE WAR OF 

THE POLISH SUCCESSION. 

1714—1740 A.D. 

THE events of the last chapter bring the history of 
Germany up to the time of Frederick William I. 

Charles XII. of Sweden had been banished ; and noth- 
ing more was heard of him until 17 14, when after the 
Peace of Utrecht he suddenly appeared in Stralsund, 
having escaped from his long exile by travelling night 
and day on horseback from the coast of the Black Sea. 
Prussia and Hanover, being eager to absorb his kingdom, 
united against this once powerful monarch ; for everything 
showed that he had lost his military strength, and that the 
nation no longer held the prestige kept by the Swedish 
rulers ever since Gustavus Adolphus first took the field. 
After the death of Charles XH. at Frederickshall, where 
he was assassinated in 17 18, Sweden was compelled 
to make a humiliating peace. There were treaties made 
at Stockholm in 1719 and 1720, by which Prussia re- 
ceived Stettin, all Pomerania, and some islands, besides 
Stralsund, agreeing to pay two million thalers to Sweden. 
By this treaty Hanover acquired Bremen and Verdun, 
and paid one million thalers; Denmark received Schles- 
wig; and Russia, now the rising power of Europe, kept 
all she had gained by conquest except Finland. 

During all these conflicts of the Empire with foreign 



Frederick WilliatJi I. 335 

powers, Frederick William I. was looking after the inter- 
ests of his kingdom with keen foresight and practical 
skill. The war of the Spanish Succession had ended 
when he came to the throne, and it was only in a con- 
tention with Sweden in the last days of Charles XII. 
that he took any considerable part. The campaign by 
which he acquired Pomerania was the only war which 
he waged on his own account, although afterwards he 
assisted the Emperor in behalf of Augustus III. of 
Saxony, in gaining the crown of Poland. The only 
human trait he ever exhibited came out in a correspon- 
dence with his minister just as he was about setting out 
to prosecute this war. He wrote, "Why will the very 
king whom I most respect compel me to be his enemy? " 
He then went on, "My wife shall be told of all things, 
and her counsel heeded. As I am a man, and likely to 
be shot, I commit Fritz to the care of all of you, and 
God shall reward you. But I give you all, wife to begin 
with, my curse, and hope that God may punish you in 
time and eternity, if you do not, after my death, bury 
me in the vault of the Palace Church at Berlin. And 
I command that you shall make no grand parade on the 
occasion, under penalty of your lives, — no festivals nor 
ceremonials, except that the regiments, one after the 
other, fire a volley over me. I am assured that you will 
manage everything with the greatest possible exactness 
during my absence with the army, for which I shall ever 
zealously, as long as I live, be your friend." 

This no doubt was written like all of his state docu- 
ments, which Carlyle said "resembled the scratches of a 
wild beast, and in tone were like the growling of a bear; 
but withal there was practical sense running through 
every line." 

Frederick \^'illiam I. was the reverse in character of 



33^ Ge7'7nany : Her People and Their Story. 

his father, the spendthrift king. He was much more like 
his grandfather, the Great Elector, especially in the or- 
ganization and management of his army, which was the 
business of his life. 

When Frederick William mounted the throne, his sub- 
jects were appalled by the arbitrary changes which he 
made. All the lavish expenditures in which his father 
had indulged were curtailed, and the numerous articles of 
luxury which had been collected in the latter's reign were 
sold or burned. Opera singers, actors, artists, and poets 
were dismissed, or their salaries cut down. Frederick 
William made a clean sweep of all the honorary officials, 
from the highest chamberlain to the humblest page. Eight 
servers only were retained at six shillings a week, and 
out of one thousand saddle-horses he kept only thirty, 
and continued only three out of the thirty pages formerly 
employed. He goaded the whole kingdom into industry, 
compelling even the apple-women to knit at the stalls. 
This was, undoubtedly, the origin of the present custom 
observed so generally by the German women ; for they 
now knit in all public conveyances, at concerts, and even 
in social gatherings ; and the serving-class are always 
seen knitting when going on errands, and with the chil- 
dren in the parks. 

Frederick William tried to make himself all that his 
father had not been. He despised French in every form ; 
he hated the French politeness of the day to such an 
extent that he treated his family with great brutality on 
account of their love of French manners and ideas ; and 
he made the greatest effort to be himself in every respect 
unlike that seductive nation. 

The age of Louis XIV. was an age of extravagant 
expenditure all over Europe. As related farther back, 
Augustus II., the Strong, set an example of terrible ex- 



Frederick William I. 337 

travagance in his city of Dresden, spending on one single 
entertainment of six months' duration six million thalers. 
Austria supported forty thousand officials, half of Vienna 
being fed from kitchens stocked from the revenues of the 
State. When Frederic William's father was crowned at 
Konigsberg, eighteen hundred carriages with thirty thou- 
sand post-horses conveyed the court to the scene of the 
coronation, the carriages moving like an army in three 
divisions of six hundred each. On this occasion the 
king's diamond sleeve-buttons cost seventy-five hundred 
dollars apiece. At that time Frederick William was 
twelve years old, and this was the beginning of his con- 
tempt for court show. But, for all that, when he himself 
was married to Sophia Dorothea, daughter of George I. 
of Hanover, he was obliged to submit to court etiquette, 
which required that on her journey to Berlin at each 
post in Hanover a relay of five hundred and twenty 
fresh horses should be employed; and when her retinue 
reached the Prussian frontier, a deputation of three hun- 
dred and fifty horses came out to receive them. 

Frederick William I. despised all this pomp and ex- 
travagance so much that he determined to save the 
money which such splendor cost, not only in building up 
his army, but in educating the common people of his 
State. He only allowed the queen one waiting-woman, 
while the Empress of Austria had several hundred. With 
the money he saved from the expenses of the royal 
household, he established four hundred schools among 
the people. Having the highest idea of the rights and 
duties of a king, he aimed to increase the wealth, dignity, 
and strength of Prussia; and by his practical sense in 
carrying on the government and increasing his army, he 
laid the foundation which enabled Frederick the Great to 
sustain himself during his long struggle, thus making 



338 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

Prussia great in his day, and the German Empire the 
power it now is in the world. 

All the officers under Frederick William I. were famous 
men, but they were as simple and abrupt, conscientious 
and practical, as himself. Although he was the friend of 
education, he did not encourage the sciences nor the arts 
unless he saw some practical use to which they could be 
put. He made his kingdom an asylum for persecuted 
Protestants, furnishing them with lands until they could 
found new homes. He was the forerunner of protection- 
ists, and gained much of the money for the support of 
his army from the duties imposed upon foreign articles 
which were consumed at home; for he preferred this 
method of raising money to direct taxation, which he 
thought was hard upon the lower classes. He himself 
wore homespun clothes, and encouraged the people to 
do the same. If Frederick William I. heard of a bed- 
curtain made of calico from abroad, or saw any article 
of foreign manufacture composing the dress of any lady, 
even in the street, he had her immediately arrested, and 
the article confiscated on the spot Once, when he was a 
little boy, some one presented him with a tiny dressing- 
gown of gold-embroidered silk. He looked at it a mo- 
ment with disgust, and then disdainfully tossed it into 
the fire. He did the same thing with a gorgeous bro- 
caded dressing-gown belonging to his son Frederick the 
Great some years after, to the dismay and chagrin of the 
latter. 

The costly fetes in which his father had tried to com- 
pete with Louis XIV. immediately disappeared, and 
the Royal Smoking Parliament took their place. This 
"Tobacco Parliament" was Frederick William's evening 
recreation. Here he met his ministers, generals, foreign 
ambassadors, and friends, who were invited to smoke 



TJic Decline of Austria. 339 

and drink beer with him in a plain room; and contrary 
to his usual parsimony with respect to food, he had a 
long table stocked with cold meats, rounds of beef, and 
sandwiches, all of which were garnished with jugs of 
beer, bottles of champagne, and pipes and tobacco to 
the crowd. He entertained them sitting on a three- 
legged stool, while these important functionaries sat 
before him on wooden benches. He required that every 
one should, at least, appear to smoke. All the affairs of 
the government were discussed at these meetings, no one 
being required to rise when the king entered the room; 
indeed, it was forbidden. On one occasion, near the close 
of Frederick William's life, he arose from his bed and 
called this Parliament together, as it proved for the last 
time. They were all enjoying the session uproariously, 
when Frederick the Great came in, and, forgetting them- 
selves, the members all. rose in a body. This was too 
much for the feeble old king; and he was so incensed, 
partly from jealousy on account of the attention paid 
his son, and partly, because the rules of his Parliament 
had been broken, that, ringing violently for his servants, 
he had himself rolled in his chair from the room. 

Up to this time the Parliament had always preserved 
a perfect good humor; the king, however, when walking 
on the streets of Berlin and Potsdam, was often irritated 
on account of the habits of shiftless people whom he 
met. Jn these walks he carried a heavy cane, which he 
applied to the shoulders of any one who seemed to have 
nothing to do. 

Frederick William was a born soldier, judging every 
person and event with a hard, iron heart, and from a 
military point of view. From the first he contracted the 
whole routine of service, and introduced economy into 
every branch of the government as well as into his own 



340 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

private affairs. He also made himself acquainted with 
the minutest details of the service. Access to the king 
was very easy to obtain, since any letter addressed sim- 
ply "To the King" came under his immediate notice, and 
was read by himself. 

The affection he always showed for his "blue chil- 
dren" and "long fellows " was the ruling passion of his 
life ; for as soon as he had increased the number of sol- 
diers from thirty-eight thousand to eighty-four thousand, 
he commenced forming a corps of giant soldiers, which 
was a mania all his life. When his son Frederick was 
fourteen years of age, he made him captain of this regi- 
ment, calling it the Potsdam Grenadier Guard, or the 
Giant Guard. In recruiting for this curious company, he 
despatched officers all over the world to hunt for tall 
men. He kidnapped them into his service by such de- 
vices that to be a tall man was a reason for great per- 
sonal fear. One Irish fellow, seven feet in height, was 
induced to enlist by a bounty equivalent to six thousand 
two hundred dollars; for another fellow he paid nine 
thousand; while forty-three others cost him a thousand 
apiece. The members of this guard were also called 
"Blue Boys," from the color of their uniforms. Travel- 
lers were stopped on post-coaches, in fields and villages, 
and tall peasants and burghers taken by brute force. 
"The time when giants were the terror of other men 
had gone by, and instead of mankind being their victims, 
they became the victims of mankind." Frederick Wil- 
liam spent his leisure hours painting likenesses of these 
giants, and when the portraits failed to resemble the 
original, he painted the giants to look like the portraits. 

A gentleman once went into a joiner's shop, the owner 
of which was six feet three inches in height. The stranger 
ordered a chest to be constructed three inches longer than 



TJie Decline of Austria. 341 

the height of the joiner himself. When he returned, he 
brought with him several servants by whom the cumbrous 
article was to be taken away. When the man saw the 
chest he did not seem satisfied with the size, declaring 
that it was not as long as the mechanic was tall. The 
latter, to convince him, jumped into the chest, stretching 
himself out at full length; then the stranger shut down 
the lid, fastening it securely, and hurried away with it for 
the purpose of presenting the man to the Blue Guards of 
Potsdam. On opening the chest, however, the joiner was 
found dead, having perished through rage and suffocation. 
The man who was responsible for this farce-tragedy was 
Baron Hombesch, and when tried for murder was con- 
demned to death ; but the king, considering that the end 
justified the means, commuted the sentence. The joiner 
just mentioned was rather a small giant, for the tallest 
were almost nine feet in height. The Russian Emperor, 
Peter, used also to make the king a present of giants, and 
the latter would reciprocate the courtesy by transporting 
some Prussian sword-cutlers for his Russian Majesty's 
service. 

From this it is plain to all that Frederick William had 
a touch of insanity in his character, or was at least eccen- 
tric to an alarming degree. It is almost laughable to 
think of this uncultivated man of one idea, keeping up 
an army of almost a hundred thousand soldiers in a kind 
of showcase for the admiration of Europe, while he en- 
tertained a strong prejudice against crippling, by real 
warfare, his well-drilled battalion, on whom he had lav- 
ished so much pains. 

Leopold of Dessau, called the "Old Desauer," was 
the instructor of the soldiers in tactics and discipline. 
He was the great general who assisted in the siege of 
Turin with Prince Eugene, and laid the foundation of 



342 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

the respect which Europe ever afterwards entertained for 
Prussian valor. He introduced the bayonet into the 
army, and taught the soldiers to form lines on the field 
with great dexterity. Dessau also used metallic ramrods 
for the first time. He was brutal in his discipline, kick- 
ing and beating his men, recruited from various lands, 
into the art of war. 

In Frederick William's reign absolute monarchy was 
brought to the highest point; but except in the manage- 
ment of his son and daughter, he generally manifested a 
keen sense of justice. He seemed to despise both his 
son Frederick and his daughter Wilhelmina, treating them 
worse than any street vagabond. He used the former so 
badly that at last the prince decided to run away, and when 
he and his friend and tutor, Katte, tried to escape, they 
were served as deserters. Katte was shot, and Frederick 
was forced to stand by and see his friend die. The peti- 
tion this brilliant young officer made to the hard-hearted 
old king to save him from his terrible doom was enough 
to melt a heart of stone. Frederick also told his father 
he would renounce all his rights to the throne if his friend 
could be saved, but it was all in vain. As Katte was led 
by the window of the prison in which Frederick was con- 
fined, the latter cried out, "Oh! that this should be the 
reward of all your kindness to me ! Pardon me, my dear 
Katte." A smile flitted across Katte's pallid face as he re- 
plied, " Death is sweet for a prince I love so well. " For a 
long time it was doubtful to those who knew the unrelent- 
ing character of Frederick William, whether his son would 
not also be shot; but the court before which Frederick 
was tried for treason decided that Colonel Fritz also was 
guilty, but that they had no jurisdiction to condemn the 
Crown Prince ; also the rulers of the other governments 
took it into their hands, and intimidated the King; 



Charles VI. 343 

Charles VI., the Emperor, wrote with his own hand, 
earnestly interceding for the Crown Prince. His father 
finally relented, and they were at last reconciled; but 
Frederick was kept in prison until the marriage of his 
favorite sister, Wilhelmina, when he was discovered with 
the servants, still deprived of any decoration signifying 
his royalty. The same evening his father dragged him 
out, presenting him to the boy's mother with these words, 
"Here, Madam, our Fritz is back again." At last, how- 
ever, by the most abject submission on the part of Fritz, 
harmony was established between them, the old king 
dying in his son's arms. 

One reason for the constant friction between father and 
son was Frederick William's extreme orthodox views — 
Frederick's ideas on all religious matters being entirely 
at variance with them. These sentiments influenced 
Frederick William at his very accession, when he expelled 
the free-thinker Wolf, and forced him to leave the kingdom 
within twenty-four hours on penalty of being hung. His 
orthodoxy is also illustrated by a little anecdote. A valet 
having been one evening called in to read prayers, instead 
of repeating the words of the text, "The Lord bless 
thee," read, "The Lord bless your Majesty." The king 
interrupted him, saying, "You rascal, read it as it is in 
the book. Before God I am just such a poor miserable 
sinner as you are." Although so devout, it seems, how- 
ever, never to have occurred to this strait-laced despot, 
that the fruits of the spirit are " love, joy, peace, long- 
suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, and temper- 
ance, " as well as faith; for his character showed no 
suspicion of any one of these attributes. Drunkenness 
was his habitual condition ; the most of his eccentricities 
and bad disposition and cruel treatment of others no 
doubt sprung from this vice ; and on account of this habit, 



344 Germany : Her People mid Their Story. 

although so strict in the dogmas of religion, he failed 
utterly to exemplify in any act of his life the teachings of 
the gospel of Christ. 

One of the great disappointments of Frederick William's 
life was his treatment by Charles VI., to whom he had 
been intensely loyal. The Emperor had rewarded all his 
devotion with so much ingratitude and duplicity that at 
last the king gave him up, and at the end of his life 
prayed that his son might be his avenger against the 
Hapsburg House. 

As his life drew to a close, Frederick William I. became 
broken down in mind and body, but he was fully aware 
that his days were nearly at an end. It being beautiful 
weather, he decided to leave Berlin for Potsdam, saying, 
"I am going to die in Potsdam. Fare thee well, then, 
Berlin ! " Soon after this he sent for three clergymen, in 
order to prepare for the final judgment. They were very 
faithful with him, reminding him of his many acts of vio- 
lence and tyranny, — of his having hung Baron Schlubhut 
without a trial, of his shooting young Katte, and his 
cruelty to his son. Then they brought up the hatred he 
had always felt towards his brother-in-law George II., the 
King of England, which was the most implacable passion 
he had ever entertained. They said, " Can you forgive 
your brother ruler? If you do not do this, how can you 
ask to be forgiven ? " He seemed quite troubled, and 
after a moment he said, "Well, I will do it." Then turn- 
ing to his wife, he said, " After I am dead, write to your 
brother and tell him that I forgave him, and died at peace 
with him." The clergymen suggested that he ought to 
do it at once. " No," said the king peremptorily ; " write 
after I am dead; that will be safer." 

The king still hung to life ; but growing worse on the 
26th of May word was sent to the Crown Prince at 



diaries VI. 345 

Rheinsberg that his father was dying, and that he must 
hasten to Potsdam or he would never see him again. 
Rising before dawn, he hastened to the death-bed of his 
father. As he entered the town and turned the corner of 
the palace, he saw at a little distance a crowd gathered 
around some one ; and to his unutterable astonishment he 
beheld his father dressed and in his wheeled chair out-of- 
doors, giving directions about laying the foundation of 
a house he had undertaken to build. The interview be- 
tween them was very affecting, and prostrated the weak old 
man, who was taken back to his bed, and realizing that he 
must now die, gave directions about his burial. He con- 
jured those about him to observe simplicity, but directed 
that he should be carried by eight captains of his regiment 
to the funeral car. He desired that the drums should beat 
the funeral march, and the hautboys should play the an- 
them, "O blessed head, covered with blood and wounds! " 
and that there should be twelve volleys fired over his 
remains ; but that the funeral sermon should be postponed 
two weeks, when it should be delivered in all the churches 
from the text, " I have fought a good fight, I have finished 
my course, I have kept the faith." Then he ordered that 
there should be a festival in the evening in the great 
room in the garden, and that a cask of hock preserved in 
the cellar for that purpose should be opened, and he com- 
manded that nothing but good wine should be drunk on 
the occasion. 

He died May 31, 1740, leaving an army of one hundred 
thousand men, nine million thalers in the treasury, and a 
territory of sixty-four thousand miles, with a population 
of two million and a half. He had increased the reve- 
nues from a little over two million to seven million thalers, 
and at the time of his death Berlin had a population of 
one hundred thousand. 



34^ Germajiy : Her People ajid Their Story. 

Although Frederick William's methods of government 
were rude, they had been so systematic and vigorous that 
while almost everywhere else in Germany the people 
were descending in the social scale, the Brandenburger 
and Hohenzollern states were growing all the time hardier 
and more upright, and were becoming the basis of the 
kingdom which soon gained the ascendancy in Germany. 

After the Treaty of Rastatt there was peace for nineteen 
years. Then the " Pragmatic Sanction," which Charles 
VI. was agitating in the interests of the succession of 
his daughter, induced him to co-operate with Russia for 
placing Augustus III. of Saxony on the Polish throne. 

Frederick William I. was only to a small degree drawn 
into the war of the Polish Succession. Louis XV., the 
great-grandson of Louis XIV., had succeeded to the throne 
of France, and married the daughter of Stanislaus Lesz- 
czynski, the Polish King; therefore the influence of Louis 
weighed with the majority, and Stanislaus, reaching War- 
saw disguised as a commercial traveller, was crowned in 
1733. The Russian army then entered Poland in the 
interests of Augustus III., while France, assisted by Spain 
and Sardinia, declared war against Germany on the side 
of Stanislaus, a part of the French army occupying Kehl. 
Prince Eugene, now seventy years old, made his last 
campaign fighting on the Rhine, and was about to enter 
Lorraine to free it from France, the rest of Germany 
withdrawing from the war. Frederick William reluctantly 
sent two thousand of his well-disciplined troops. But just 
at the moment when everything looked discouraging for 
the other nations, Leszczynski, frightened at the appear- 
ance of the Russians in Poland, fled in the disguise of a 
cattle-trader. Soon after, Louis asked for negotiations, and 
the war of the Polish Succession closed, in October, 1733, 
by giving up Lorraine, with the consent of Charles VL, to 



The War of the Polish Successioji. 347 

Leszczynski, on condition that it should finally revert to 
France. Francis of Lorraine was made Grand-Duke 
of Tuscany, and in 1736 married Maria Theresa, the 
daughter of Charles VI. Austria was obliged to bear all 
the losses incident to this war in order that Charles VI. 
might receive a recognition of his " Pragmatic Sanction." 
Frederick William, enraged at the ingratitude of Austria 
in giving him nothing when he expected Julich and Berg, 
the old disputed possessions, entered into secret negotia- 
tions with France. 

In 1736 Prince Eugene of Savoy died, worn out by a 
life of assiduous labor and peril. The next year the Em- 
peror of Austria was inveigled into hostilities with the 
Turks. In this war he lost Belgrade, which Prince Eugene 
had won so bravely in 17 16, and which resulted in the 
Peace of Passarowitz. 

Charles VI. died on the 24th of October, 1740. He 
was the last of the sixteen Emperors of the Hapsburg 
dynasty. There were two others, Rudolf of Hapsburg 
and Albert I., who are usually reckoned with the mixed 
line of kings. At the time of the death of the Emperor 
his army was disorganized, and the people so weakened 
by the luxury and oppression of the government, that for 
an entire century they lost all heart. Although the 
pomp of the Empire continued, it was plain to see, by all 
political observers, that Prussia was, even at this date, 
the rising power of Europe. 



348 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

FREDERICK THE GREAT'S YOUTH. 



1712—1732 A.D. 



AFTER the wars of the Austrian Succession and the 
JTx. Seven Years' War, Prussia became the fifth great 
power of Europe. This was brought about by the eminent 
statesmanship of Frederick the Great, aided by the large 
standing army and wealth accumulated in Frederick Wil- 
liam's time. 

Frederick the Great was born January 24, 1712. He 
had fair hair, and handsome blue eyes, delicate features, 
an expressive face, and on the whole was rather good- 
looking, though inclined to be stout. Although naturally 
of a loving disposition, on account of fear and suspicion 
he grew up cold, reserved, and sarcastic; but notwith- 
standing this, he was full of wit, and with those he 
sought to please not ungracious in his manners. His 
mother, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, a sister of George 
II. of England, was a mild-tempered woman, who loved 
her son; but being largely self-centred, she lacked the 
power to shield him against the cruelty of his father. 

Music and French literature were the chief joy of the 
young boy's life; and these he could only indulge in by 
stealth ; for his father, in his desire to uproot the sickly 
sentiment so much in vogue, led the poor lad a miserable 
life. A celebrated music-master from Dresden, by the 
name of Quantz, was his teacher, secretly instructing the 
young prince. This was a very hazardous measure ; since 



Frederick the Great ' s Youth. 349 

the old king might at any hour make his appearance, and 
no one could tell to what lengths he would go in case of 
a discovery being made; therefore Lieutenant Katte was 
stationed to give warning of the king's approach. At 
one time when he had established this outpost, and 
put himself in negligee costume, enjoying his favorite 
pastime with great zest, his friend Katte came into the 
room, and announced that the king was at the door. 
Katte and Quantz seized the flutes and music-books, and 
rushed into a little cabinet, quaking with fear. Frederick 
William, with all his faults, was very orderly and scru- 
pulously neat ; and when he saw his son with his hair 
frizzled all over his head, he flew into a terrible rage. 
Collecting all the French books, he sent for a bookseller, 
and ordered him to sell them for what he could get. 
Although he made a vigorous search for other forbidden 
luxuries, he did not look into the cabinet, and so the 
friends of the Crown Prince at that time escaped being 
terribly beaten, and probably being sent to the scaffold or 
in their turn shot. 

When Frederick was in the tenth year of his age, his 
father made a curious schedule for the direction of his 
son's life. First he said, " I wish my son to be im- 
pressed with the love and fear of God, for this is the 
foundation of temporal as well as eternal welfare." Sun- 
day morning Frederick was to rise at seven o'clock, and 
kneeling at his bedside, he was to commit himself to God. 
Among other things in the short prayer was the sentence, 
"Grant that I do nothing this day nor all the days of my 
life which can divide me from Thee." After this came 
his toilet, during which time he was to breakfast on tea, 
the three exercises to occupy just fifteen minutes. Then 
came the real family worship. At nine he went to 
church with his father, dining with him at twelve o'clock. 



350 Gerniajiy : Her People and Their Story. 

The rest of the day he had to himself; and at half-past 
nine he bade his father good-night, after washing his 
hands and saying a prayer and singing a hymn in the pres- 
ence of the servants. Beginning with Monday he must 
rise all the rest of the week at six o'clock. A servant 
was stationed at the bed to see that he didn't rub his 
eyes nor stretch himself nor turn over in bed, and that he 
rose the moment he was called. About the same rules were 
observed until nine o'clock as on Sunday, except that 
at this early toilet he did not wash his hands with soap. 
Until eleven o'clock he studied a treatise on the Chris- 
tian religion, and after washing his hands with soap and 
water, he repaired to the presence of the king, and stayed 
until two o'clock, dining at twelve. From two to three 
he engaged in miscellaneous study. The history of the 
preceding hundred and fifty years must be taken up in 
detail, including an account of all the European king- 
doms, their weakness and strength, the size, riches, and 
poverty of the towns. As he grew older he was to take 
up the plans of the fortifications, the formation of a camp, 
and all the science of war; and he must be taught that all 
his desire for glory should be that which can be gained 
in the profession of arms, and that nothing brings honor 
and renown like the sword. From three to four Freder- 
ick was to study morality; from four to five he must write 
German letters, to cultivate a good style, and after five, 
exercise in the open air until evening. On Saturday 
he reviewed the studies of the week, when if his work 
had been thorough, he had Saturday afternoon for a holi- 
day; but if the exercises were not well done, he was to 
perfect them until six o'clock. The teachers were also 
commanded to see that he dressed and undressed quickly, 
and did it all without aid. Frederick was in the habit 
of visiting the famous Tobacco Parliament in the evening 



Frederick the Great's Youth. 351 

at his father's request. When he failed to do this, he 
always accompanied the younger children, nine in num- 
ber, when they came before this august body to bid their 
father good-night. 

Frederick William was so eager that little Fritz should 
form warlike tastes and habits, and like himself scorn 
effeminacy, that from very early age he gave him little 
time for amusement, and stinted him in his food. To a 
degree he did the same thing with all his household, 
always, however, giving his son the meanest kind of 
everything, so that the boy generally went to bed hungry. 
Wilhelmina writes of this, " He almost caused my brother 
and myself to die of hunger, always acting as carver him- 
self; if anything nice remained in the dish, he made it 
look so uninviting that we did not want it; so we mainly 
lived on coffee, milk, and dried cherries, being nourished 
chiefly with insults and abuse. 

The king was anxious that the boy, while still a mere 
baby, should be drilled for a soldier; but the child soon 
tired of the numberless reviews, and showed no fondness 
for drill exercise, much to the disappointment of his 
father. He was gentle, affectionate, and fond of books, 
and clung to his sister Wilhelmina with a tender love. 
One day with inexpressible delight his father found 
little Fritz strutting about and beating a drum, with his 
sister marching beside him. Soon after a miniature com- 
pany of soldiers was organized, consisting of one hundred 
lads. They were called the " Crown Prince Cadets," and 
gradually increased to three hundred. When drilling, 
Fritz wore a military dress just like his father's, and 
was provided with an arsenal on the palace grounds of 
Potsdam, where he had mounted batteries, and practised 
gunnery with all the equipments then in vogue. This 
seems to have been the only thing in Frederick's child- 



352 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

hood which afforded him pleasure, and at the same time 
accorded with his father's plans and tastes. Even at this 
early age he showed uncommon capacity for military 
pursuits, and a general intelligence which augured well 
for his fuiure greatness. 

But this kind of play tactics the king only permitted 
for a short time. At seven years Frederick was taken 
from the care of his governess, Madame Recoule, and 
other female teachers, whom he loved very much, and 
who had taught him the French language so well that he 
spoke it better than his own native tongue ; indeed, the 
latter was so much neglected that he is said never to 
have learned to spell, and in later years in writing some 
of the documents which thrilled Europe, and gained his 
renown, in a half a page eleven words are found mis- 
spelled. The tutors under whom he was placed were 
military officers, had won renown in battle; one of them 
was Colonel Kalkstein, whom Frederick was accustomed 
to refer to, years after, as "my master Kalkstein." But 
the boy's acute though still childish mind revolted from 
the treadmill to which he was condemned. 

In these early years of Frederick's boyhood, his father 
used to take the whole family to an ancient hunting-lodge 
called Wiisterhausen, about twenty miles from Berlin. 
Here there was an old rectangular palace in the midst of 
a lugubrious swamp, surrounded by a lot of tumble-down 
outbuildings. Wilhelmina in her usual sarcastic vein 
describes the gloomy castle, with its abominable ditch 
which they called a moat, where she says they had an 
old eagle and black bears for pets; while the different 
members of the large royal family were stuffed into gar- 
rets without room to turn round. Frederick William, how- 
ever, found the place just suited to his tastes, and kept 
the family there during the autumn hunting-season. 



Frederick the Great's Youth. 353 

Although there was a house full of children, besides cou- 
sins and sons and daughters of the families connected 
with the court, Frederick and Wilhelmina cared only for 
each other. Here this brother and sister were drawn 
together very closely, and the affection they then cher- 
ished developed into the beautiful traits of character, by 
means of which they were enabled afterwards to encounter 
the severe trials of life. But the more their hearts were 
knit together, the more the old king hated and abused and 
persecuted them. 

In Berlin and Potsdam, although the king himself lived 
in Spartan simplicity, with scarcely any furniture, and a 
hard camp-bed, he allowed his family to retain much of 
the magnificence with which his splendor-loving father, 
Frederick I., had surrounded these palaces. While liv- 
ing in town, Fritz was required to settle down to hard 
study, which taxed his slender constitution to the utmost. 
Whenever his father found him reading a French author 
or playing the flute, he would say; " Fritz is a fiddler and 
a poet; he will spoil all my labor, " and then he would 
threaten to beat the boy. Frederick told his sister that 
he never would endure this; but if all the accounts of 
his father's cruelty are true, he often suffered severer 
punishment than the force of the tough cane. But "dark 
as these days were, they led the prince to a crown, and 
to achievements of whose recital the world will never 
grow weary." The more his father tried to prevent him, 
the more eager he became to pursue the branches he so 
ardently loved, and music became the absorbing passion 
of his life. These tastes afterwards influenced his action 
as ruler of the nation ; he founded the Berlin Opera, 
and his French ideas afterwards brought him into sym- 
pathy with Voltaire, whom he admired in his youth, and 
adopted as a friend in later years. 



354 Germany : Her People and TJieir Story. 

While Frederick was shut up in the fortress of Custrin, 
after he had been tried and condemned for desertion, 
in attempting to run away, all his friends were treated by 
his infuriated father with the greatest severity. A book- 
seller who had furnished the prince with French books 
was exiled to the Baltic, and a Count Montholieu almost 
lost his life on the scaffold. Wilhelmina was also a close 
prisoner in the palace in Berlin, and was forced to live on 
the coarsest fare ; but she felt herself comfortably situated 
compared to her brother, who was living the roughest kind 
of a life at Custrin, with hardly a bed, with only a rickety 
chest to sit on, with no light and no books to read. Yet 
Wilhelmina was shut out from her mother's presence, and 
could only communicate with her brother by stealth. 

At the close of this period of imprisonment, when Fred- 
erick was twenty years of age, as a condition of release 
he was forced to marry Princess Elizabeth of Brunswick- 
Bevern, whom he disliked; and since there was no har- 
mony between them, they lived together but a short time. 
His mother had desired his marriage with Princess 
Amelia, his cousin, daughter of George II., whom he 
loved. The arrangement included a double marriage, 
whereby Wilhelmina would have wedded the Crown 
Prince of England, the consummation of the plan render- 
ing England and Prussia almost the same government. 
This the English politicians and Frederick ^^'illiam I. 
did not sanction, the latter very much disliking that 
nation. The piquant letters of Wilhelmina concerning 
the negotiations connected with this proposed double 
marriage are very interesting, and not only show what a 
bright, though down-trodden girl she was, but they let 
the world into the routine of the stormy domestic life of 
the palace more than anything else written. She carica- 
tures George I. of England in an account which she gives 



Frederick tJic Great'' s Youth. 355 

of his visit to Iiis daughter, Wilhelmina's mother, relat- 
ing to the double marriage of his four grandchildren. 
Looking the young lady over, he said, " Don't you think 
she is rather large of her age?" Wilhelmina then said, 
" I was very much embarrassed, and that gave rise to my 
grandfather asking if I was not of a melancholy turn of 
mind, when in reality I was almost frightened to death. 
Madame Sonsfeld told him this, and that it was my re- 
spect for him that caused my reserve ; but he shook his 
head incredulously, and said nothing more." Wilhel- 
mina also declared that her grandfather was intolerably 
proud after he became King of England, and looked 
down upon the family because their father was only King 
of Prussia. Notwithstanding this, Frederick William was 
deeply affected when the former died, and cried like a 
child, soon after becoming melancholy almost to the ex- 
tent of hypochondria. He condemned all pleasure, and 
allowed his family to speak of nothing in his presence but 
the word of God. Wilhelmina writes, "We had to listen 
to his sermon with as devout attention as if he had been 
the Apostle Paul, and my brother and I had all we could 
do to keep from laughing in his presence, and sometimes 
we did burst out; and then he would curse us with the 
anathemas of the Church until we put on a contrite, pen- 
itential air." The old king grew so low spirited that 
he thought of abdicating in favor of Frederick, and retir- 
ing to the seclusion of Wiisterhausen, but there was no 
such ffood luck in store for his son. 



356 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

FREDERICK THE GREAT CONTINUED. MARIA THERESA. 

FRANCIS I. FIRST SILESIAN WAR. 

1732—1743 A.D. 

AT the time of Frederick's marriage, his father gave 
£\_ him the Castle of Rheinsberg, near Potsdam, which 
he renovated and made a most charming place. Here he 
engaged in philosophical studies, enjoying his first expe- 
rience of a free and independent life. Frederick William 
kept him so straitened in means that he was obliged 
to borrow of Russia and England, and the Empress also 
lent him money; but they knew it would not be rela- 
tively long before he would be at the head of the govern- 
ment, and they hoped to gain his favor in this way; 
therefore they were always glad to furnish him with what 
funds he needed. At Rheinsberg he did not waste his 
time, but interested himself in the plans of the govern- 
ment, and in political and military affairs; and while the 
world thought that he was a mere poet and philosopher, 
given up to the pleasures of society and to a careless 
and convivial life, he was really laying the moral foun- 
dation of his future greatness. Carlyle says of him at 
this period, "What mankind have done and been in the 
world, and what the wisest of men, poetical or other, 
have thought about mankind and their world, this is what 
he evidently had the appetite for — appetite insatiable, 
which lasted him to the very end of his days." 

As Frederick the Great's father drew to the end of 



Frederick the Great Cenitiniicd. 357 

life, and his infirmities and sufferings increased, the 
sympathies of his son had grown more acute. Frederick 
forgot all his father's cruel treatment, and only remem- 
bered his thrift and energy. The thought of his death 
became very painful to him, and he was depressed at the 
idea of assuming the cares of State. The king had abdi- 
cated at the last moment in favor of his "good son Fred- 
erick," in the presence of an assembled company into 
which he had been carried in his wheeled chair. It was 
about two o'clock in the afternoon of Tuesday, May 31, 
1740, that he passed away, after a reign of twenty-seven 
years; and his son Frederick II. inherited his throne. 
The world then believed that the new reign would usher 
in a "Golden Age of .Peace." They thought the philo- 
sophical studies of the latter would make him unpracti- 
cal in his government, and that he would only think of 
the happiness of his subjects, and would devote his time 
to the encouragement of the arts and sciences alone. 
But Frederick now showed that he meant to govern with 
the same strong hand with which his father had ruled 
before him. He was King of Prussia, master of him- 
self — a new phase of life for him. He was absolute 
monarch over a realm containing two million two hun- 
dred and forty thousand souls. He was restrained by no 
parliament, no constitution, and no laws beyond his own 
will; and he did not condescend to be crowned, "proudly 
assuming that the crown was already placed upon his 
brow by divine power." The first thing he did was to 
give his ministers to understand that he regarded his 
own advantage and that of his people as identical ; but if 
the interests of the two should ever clash, the preference 
would be given to the good of the people. 

The kingdom which then fell to Frederick the Great 
comprised an area of nearly fifty-seven thousand square 



358 Germany : Her People ajtd Their Story. 

miles, and consisted of a collection of duchies, marqui- 
sates, principalities, and lordships. It was unfortunately 
not a compact country, and the king was much hampered 
by being obliged to pass through the territory of other 
powers in order to reach some parts of his own. The 
annual revenue amounted to a little over six million ; and 
there was then in the treasury, saved up by his father, 
seven million dollars. The army consisted of seventy- 
six thousand men, in the highest state of discipline, and 
equipped with every requisite of war. The expense of 
fighting at that time is illustrated by the fact that one 
of Frederick's earliest campaigns cost but two millions 
of dollars, and this was then thought to be a very large 
sum. 

Within the first two days of his reign Frederick II. 
abolished legal torture, having himself experienced the 
agonies of that system. He also granted complete free- 
dom of the press; for under his father's reign every 
attempt at journalism had been put down because the 
latter feared some criticism on his own arbitrary action. 
Immediately after his accession he ordered that a liberal 
distribution of the corn which was stored away should be 
furnished to some famished districts; he also supplied a 
thousand old women with work for the government, giving 
them comfortable quarters with good wages. Then he 
disbanded the old Potsdam Giant Guards on whom his 
father had spent so much of the revenues of the State. 
The last occasion on which these Guards had appeared was 
at his father's funeral. About this time he called Mau- 
pertuis to the city to take charge of the Berlin Academy, 
in order to place it on a scientific basis. 

The economy of the late reign was in no wise dimin- 
ished, though Frederick looked out that parsimony should 
no longer make his court the cause of ridicule among the 




Makers of Gr':RMANV. 

Barbnrossa. Luther. 

Cluirleiiiagne. 
Frederick the Great. Bismarck. 



Frederick the Great Coiitimied. 359 

princes of Europe. When he set out for Konigsberg his 
court travelled in three carriages only, and the excuse he 
gave for not being crowned was that he was strong 
enough without it; he however at once proceeded to 
strengthen the union between Prussia and Brandenburg. 

He took the reins of government into his own hands 
even more completely than did his father, allowing no 
minister to counsel him; and he was determined that 
there should be no nobility, however powerful, that was 
powerful against the king. His ministers were little 
more than clerks ; and when Prince Leopold of Anhalt- 
Dessau expressed a wish that his sons might be allowed 
to keep the "offices and authority they had held in the 
late reign," he replied that he would continue them in 
their offices, but he was unconscious of any authority 
except that which resided in the king. He seems also 
never to have made any distinction in favor of those who 
had rendered him the greatest benefits in the early times 
of his anguish and distress. He has been greatly criti- 
cised because on account of his own ambition, and his 
desire to avenge the ingratitude of Charles VI. to his 
father, he entirely overlooked the service the Emperor 
had rendered him, at the time the latter interceded for 
him when under arrest, and no doubt saved his life. 

Frederick the Great was the original ''civil service" 
reformer, almost all his father's ministers being kept in 
their places. He superintended every department of 
government himself, carrying this personal supervision, 
as some think, too far; for no one less strong physically 
than he could have stood such an immense strain. 

Although he was despotic, Frederick allowed unpar- 
alleled freedom of speech. The liberty of the press was 
such in his time that it was no uncommon thing for sat- 
ires to be published in Berlin which would not have been 



360 Gerrnany : Her People and TJieir Story. 

tolerated in any other capital in Europe. " My people 
and I," he said, "have come to an agreement which satis- 
fies us both. They are to say. what they please, and I am 
to do what I please." Both kept up the understanding 
quite generally throughout his reign. He was able to suf- 
fer this state of things to exist, because he knew he had 
the love and esteem of the greater part of his subjects, and 
he did not care what his enemies said about him. One 
day, as he was riding through Berlin, he saw a crowd 
of people looking at something high up on the wall, and 
sent his groom to inquire what it was all about. It 
proved to be a caricature of himself. It occupied so ele- 
vated a position that it was difficult to see it or read 
what was said about the king; so Frederick ordered that 
it should be placed lower, in order that the people might 
not tire themselves stretching their necks to look at it. 
He had hardly given the order when with a shout of joy 
the crowd pulled down the placard and tore it in pieces, 
giving the king a hearty cheer as he rode away. 

Frederick the Great was a clear-sighted statesman. 
He had a definite policy, and never allowed himself to 
drift. When he once made up his mind to act, he exe- 
cuted with vigor, and made few mistakes. Through all 
the years of his great career he was rarely disheartened 
by adversity, and not too much elated by success. It 
was his fortitude and will that enabled him to hold out 
through the many discouragements of the Seven Years' 
War. Macaulay said of him, " It was in the midst of 
difficulty and disgrace that he caught the first ideal 
glimpse of the precepts of military art." 

Although he was sarcastic with reference to the faults 
of his equals, Frederick never indulged in irony at the 
expense of his subjects, and he was deservedly very 
popular with them. He was especially liked by his 



Maria Theresa. 361 

soldiers, and as he became more efficient as a general, 
they were justly proud of him. 

The early campaigns of Frederick the Great were full 
of blunders ; and he owed his success, as will be seen, to 
his father's well-drilled battalions and excellent generals. 
It was profiting by experience that made him the first 
commander of his age. 

At the time of Frederick's accession, in May, 1740, the 
political horizon was tolerably clear, and there was no 
sign in the sky of the coming storm. But on the 25th of 
October of the same year, the death of Charles VI. was 
the signal for disturbance throughout Europe. The King 
of Prussia was sick in bed, suffering from an attack of 
chills and fever. When he received the tidings, he rose 
and dressed himself, and his ague disappeared to return 
no more. He had already revolved the matter in his own 
mind, and resolved on a course of action whenever the 
Emperor should pass away, and he immediately sum- 
moned his chief ministers to a Council of State. He 
wrote the next day to Voltaire with reference to the occur- 
rence, saying, " This small event changes the entire system 
of Europe." 

Maria Theresa was in her twenty-fourth year when her 
father died. She was a woman of heroic character, and 
felt herself equal to any emergency. This feeling on 
her part inspired all about her wath enthusiasm. She 
was radiantly beautiful, and most fascinating in her man- 
ners. Throughout her life her courage rose in proportion 
to the difficulties that sprung up around her. She was 
morally irreproachable, noble-minded, and imbued with 
deep religious principle, always acting from a stern sense 
of duty. 

She was an able antagonist even for Frederick the 
Great, her lifelong deadly foe; it is said Frederick would 



362 Germany: Her People a7td Their Story. 

have married her, had she not loved Francis of Lorraine, 
to whom she was devoted all her life. Had this marriage 
taken place, European history would have been changed 
in its most important bearings. There were also many 
other sore trials for Maria Theresa ; since after Charles 
VI. died nobody cared anything about his " Pragmatic 
Sanction," which had used up all his time and energy 
for a score of years. 

The grandmother of Elector Charles of Bavaria be- 
longed to the House of Hapsburg; and his wife was the 
daughter of Emperor Joseph I., who had made a contract 
with Charles VI. that his daughters should have the first 
chance if the succession should ever fall to a female heir. 
It was, however, in the right of his grandmother that the 
Duke of Bavaria claimed the crown of Austria, and Louis 
XV. supported him in that claim. An old will had been 
found by which Ferdinand I. had bequeathed the crown 
to his "lawfully begotten descendants," not to his "male 
descendants." No one knows whether the old will had 
been tampered with, or whether the copy was correct ; but 
on the strength of it Charles Albert, Duke of Bavaria, 
was afterwards proclaimed Charles VII. 

It was at this juncture of affairs that Frederick the 
Great saw his opportunity, and determined to strengthen 
some old claims to four principalities in Silesia which 
Austria had forcibly acquired. 

Silesia lies in the valley of the Oder like a wedge 
between the Slavonic countries Bohemia and Poland. It 
reaches on the southeast to Hungary, and is divided from 
Bohemia by the Riesengebirge on the east, and northeast 
it is open to Poland. It is thus connected by natural 
features with Prussia, and cut off from Austria. The 
southern part, called Upper Silesia, is mountainous, but 
it is rich in mineral treasures; here the Slavonic popula- 



First Silesian War. 363 

tion in the time of Frederick the Great remained, but in 
the central and lower part, on the beautiful hills, the 
German settlers have lived since the thirteenth century, 
when the country was ravaged by the Mongols ; here also 
occurred some of the bloody scenes of the Hussite war. 
It was originally like Prussia, outside of the Empire, but 
later it had been a fief of Bohemia. The old line became 
extinct in 1675, when Austria seized it, although accord- 
ing to a treaty with Joachim II., about 1540, each family 
was to be heir to the others' possessions, in case of a fail- 
ure of issue either in the Silesian or the Brandenburg 
House; therefore Brandenburg had owned certain prov- 
inces by right ever since 1675. The people had em- 
braced Protestantism at the time of the Reformation, and 
having been persecuted for their religion ever since Fer- 
dinand II. 's reign, they looked upon Frederick as a libe- 
rator when his army entered their province, especially as 
he immediately issued an edict of universal toleration. 

Frederick had determined to seize Silesia peacefully 
if possible, and then send an offer to Maria Theresa to 
assist her husband in obtaining the crown as a return 
for the province; also to resign Julich and Berg, and to 
advance a considerable sum of money. Frederick felt 
that it required a good deal of courage to present such 
an offer to the proud queen, and he had but little hope 
that the terms would be accepted. What he expected 
followed, — a flat refusal to negotiate with him. 

On Tuesday night, the 12th of December, 1740, the 
King attended a masked ball in Berlin, accompanied by 
his wife. Though he tried to assume an air of gayety, 
his Majesty was evidently preoccupied, and he left the 
ball at a very early hour. The next night, after driving 
rapidly, he reached Frankfort, a distance of sixty miles. 
The day after he entered Silesia at the head of twenty- 



364 Gerviany : Her People and Their Story. 

eight thousand men, declaring that he came with no hos- 
tile intentions, but merely to guard his interests in the 
approaching troublous times. 

As he was about to embark in this enterprise, it was 
proposed to have his banners inscribed with the words 
" For God and our Country." But Frederick struck out 
the words " For God," saying it was sacrilegious to intro- 
duce the name of the Deity into the quarrels of men, 
especially since he was about to go to war for conquest 
and not for religion. 

Frederick's invasion of Silesia kindled a general war. 
Austria' manned the fortresses in Silesia with seven thou- 
sand men, hoping that in the spring they would be relieved 
by another of her armies. Although Frederick held all 
of Silesia except these fortresses, Maria Theresa with 
her usual energy refused absolutely to treat with him 
while one of his soldiers remained in her dominion. 

In the spring war was resumed in earnest, and the 
battle of Mollwitz was fought with General Neipperg. 
Frederick retired from this battle, as Voltaire said, " cov- 
ered with glory and with flour," for he had sought safety 
in a mill, remarking as he left the field, " Adieu, mes- 
sieurs, I am the best mounted." But old Frederick Wil- 
liam's steadfast troops retrieved the day, fighting as if 
drilling in the parade-ground of Potsdam. 

Frederick afterwards deplored his lack of military ex- 
perience at this time, saying that if he had then followed 
out a proper line of action the whole Austrian army would 
have been annihilated. As it was, he entered Oppeln 
not as a conqueror, but as a starving fugitive, being so 
hungry that he stopped at a little shop on the market- 
place, where a peasant woman served him with a cup of 
coffee and a cold fowl. Having heard of the final suc- 
cess of his army, he galloped back to Mollwitz. His 



First Silcsiaii War. 365 

chagrin at his dastardly flight was so great that during 
the rest of his life he never again referred to it. He 
afterwards wrote in his " History of My Time : " " The 
contest between General Neipperg and myself seemed to 
be which should commit the most blunders." Mollwitz 
was the school of the king and his troops. 

The battle of Mollwitz made a great sensation in Eu- 
rope ; for no one had believed that the Prussian troops, 
accustomed in the late king's life only to drill exercise, 
would be able to resist the veterans of Austria in actual 
warfare. All Lower Silesia was now in the hands of the 
Prussians. France, Spain, and Saxony united with Ba- 
varia against Austria, and George II., in behalf of the 
Electorate of Hanover, promised his vote for the Elector 
of Bavaria ; and when the French and Bavarians seized 
Linz, Carl Albert was proclaimed Archduke of Austria. 

Maria Theresa and her court fled to Presburg, where 
the Hungarian nobles were assembled. On September 
II, 1741, she appeared before the Diet in robes of deep 
mourning, covered with jewels, and with the sacred crown 
of St. Stephen in her hand ; her fair hair fell in rich 
curls upon her shoulders, and a sword was girded to her 
waist. With her son in her arms she made an eloquent 
speech in Latin, setting forth the dangers which beset 
her, and asking the nobles to support her cause. With 
one impulse and with one voice, waving their swords 
in the air, they cried out, "Aloria^mir pro rege nostro, 
Maria Thcrcsia " (" Let us die for Maria Theresa, our 
King"). Then she was crowned with the crown of 
St. Stephen, and putting on the royal breastplate, she 
mounted her charger and galloped up the king's hill," 
waving her drawn sword in knightly fashion to the four 
quarters of the earth. 

Meanwhile the allied troops might have taken Vienna 



366 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

had they been united in one purpose; but they turned 
aside to the conquest of Bohemia, and, December 19, 
crowned Charles Albert at Prague. The February fol- 
lowing he was crowned at Frankfort as Emperor, under 
the name of Charles VII. The very day of the latter's 
coronation, Charles V. of Lorraine, brother of Maria 
Theresa's husband, invaded Bavaria, and drove out the 
French army. 

Frederick II. entered into a compromise with Austria; 
but not being satisfied with the agreement, as soon as 
it seemed convenient he proved recreant to his prom- 
ise, and marching into Bohemia he defeated Charles of 
Lorriane near Czaslau, May 17, 1742. He gained an 
overwhelming victory alone, the French having failed to 
co-operate ; for they had made an offer to Maria Theresa 
to betray Prussia on condition that she would give up 
Bohemia to Charles Albert, her rival, the despatch having 
been sent to Vienna. England had advised Austria all 
along to make peace with Prussia. But until after the 
tremendous battle near Czaslau, Maria Theresa would 
not consent to give up Silesia, which she considered the 
choicest jewel in her crown. After this the First Silesian 
War was closed by the Peace of Breslau. It was made 
without even the knowledge of the French ; and when the 
French Minister at Berlin complained, Frederick handed 
him the despatch which Fleury at Paris had sent to Maria 
Theresa beti'aying Prussia, it having been secretly ob- 
tained from Vienna by Frederick. When the diplomat 
saw the original document which exposed the French 
treachery, he could only bow and retire. Frederick writ- 
ing of this incident said, " Each party wished to be more 
cunning than the other." 

By the Peace of Breslau, Frederick gained Upper and 
Lower Silesia and Glatz, an addition of one million two 



First Silesian War. 367 

hundred thousand inhabitants, one hundred and fifty 
cities, and five thousand villages. Since the queen could 
not prolong the war alone, she was forced to submit, 
although she felt the loss sorely, and blamed George II., 
who had negotiated the terms of the treaty, for requiring 
of her so great a sacrifice. It was a great loss to her, 
since, in the jDOssession of Silesia no army of the allies 
could penetrate as far as Vienna ; on the other hand, it 
was particularly valuable to Frederick, since without 
Silesia the Austrian army could at any time without dif- 
ficulty march into the heart of the Prussian kingdom. 

Frederick II. returned to his capital in triumph, where 
he was received by his people with great enthusiasm. 
Voltaire covered him with panegyrics, and anticipating 
the subsequent acclamations of the nation, greeted him 
as " Frederick the Great." "■ How glorious is my king, 
the youngest and the grandest," he said. 



368 GcTviany : Her People and Theii' Story. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

WAR OF AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION CONTINUED. SECOND SI- 

LESIAN WAR. HABITS OF FREDERICK THE GREAT IN 

TIMES OF PEACE. 

1742—1756 A.D. 

A FTER this England, Hanover, and Holland entered 
±\. into an alliance to support Maria Theresa ; and 
now having only France and Bavaria to fight, they were 
able to carry on the war successfully. 

Maria Theresa was crowned Queen of Bohemia, May 
12, 1743. She was so elated at her successes that she 
began to think of getting back Alsace and Lorraine from 
France, and of securing Bavaria as a compensation for 
the loss of Silesia. 

Therefore, as she seemed to be concentrating her forces, 
although he had learned how unreliable the French were, 
Frederick, becoming alarmed, joined them the second 
time in a union for twelve years. He also embraced the 
cause of Charles VH., who had been driven from his 
country on account of the alliance between Austria, Eng- 
land, and Sardinia, by which all lands had been guaran- 
teed to Maria Theresa. At this time Frederick, having 
spent the most of the gold and silver stored away in casks 
in the cellar of the palaces in Berlin by his father, for the 
purpose of meeting the further expenses of war, melted 
down a large portion of silver plate, massive chandeliers, 
and a solid silver balcony in his ballroom. These, with 
other solid silver articles, Frederick William had accu- 
mulated, thinking them the safest investment for his sur- 



War of Austrian Succession Continued. 369 

plus capital, and good security against the kingdom's 
future need. 

Frederick now led eighty thousand troops into Bohemia, 
which was meagrely defended. He met with reverses in 
connection with Charles Lorraine's army. He had already 
taken Prague; but his army, under Marshal Belleisle, 
was obliged to retreat ; the latter secretly making his way 
out of the city in the night, with the loss of the colors 
and cannon. 

Maria Theresa considered this a great conquest, and 
celebrated it by chariot races as nearly like those of the 
ancient Greeks as possible, introducing one modern fea- 
ture, — herself participating in it with her sister. 

This retreat had been most harrowing, the soldiers 
almost freezing, and marching through snow, sleet, and 
mud, thousands perished by the way. The defeat was 
due to the generalship of Count Traun, and to the error 
of Frederick in leaving Prague in the hands of Belleisle 
by the latter's advice, in order to threaten Vienna, when 
he ought to have strengthened the garrison of the former 
city. While he was conquering the Duchy of Upper 
Moldau, Count Traun, with Charles of Lorraine, had 
returned from Alsace, and forced Frederick to choose be- 
tween abandoning Prague and losing his communication 
with Silesia, his retreat through which had been cut off 
by the Saxons. Thus the campaign ended unfortunately 
for the King of Prussia. Frederick was so struck with 
admiration by the generalship of Count Traun that in 
his " History of My Time," he said that he regarded this 
campaign as his school in the art of war, and Count 
Traun as his teacher. 

Charles VIl. died January 20, 1745; and his son, Max 
Joseph, gave up his pretension to the imperial crown on 
condition that he should still hold Bavaria. 



370 Get">nany : Her People and TJieir Story. 

On January 8 a Quadruple Alliance was formed at 
Warsaw between England, Austria, Hollai\d. and Saxony, 
for the purpose of wresting Silesia from Prussia, of parti- 
tioning the kingdom, and reducing it to its original limits 
as the Mark of Brandenburg. The following May, just 
as Frederick had found his treasury exhausted, Silesia 
was invaded by an army of one hundred thousand Aus- 
trians and Saxons. On June 4, however, there was a 
brilliant battle at Hohenfriedberg, where the Austrians 
were commanded by Charles of Lorraine, who was failing 
in energy on account of family bereavement, and the 
spirit of Count Traun no longer animated the troops. 
Though inferior in numbers, the Prussian cavalry and 
infantry exhibited great heroism. The Bayreuth regiment 
captured sixty-seven standards, and ever after carried the 
number ''67" on its cartridge-boxes. There were nine 
hundred of the enemy dead and wounded, and seven 
thousand taken as prisoners. Frederick at this time 
ordered a Te Demn to be sung in the churches of Berlin. 
This last victory produced a great effect throughout 
Europe, and saved the Prussian army from utter annihi- 
lation. England intervened again in favor of peace, and 
Frederick announced that he only wished to fight long 
enough to secure Silesia. But Maria Theresa declared 
that she would sooner part with all the clothes she had 
in the world than let Silesia go. 

After the victory of Hohenfriedberg, Frederick drove 
the enemy out of Silesia, and invaded Bohemia with 
eighteen thousand men, not so much with a desire for 
battle, as to devastate the country so that there would 
be no support for the enemy's army during the winter. 
His own resources were nearly exhausted, while Austria 
depended on English supplies. The expenses of the 
war were immense; for on making a careful estimate, 



Second Silcsiaii War. 371 

FreaericK found that he required three hunared and 
seventy-five thousand dollars a month, and that he could 
not carry on another campaign with less than four million 
five hundred thousand dollars, a sum which in our day 
seems marvellously small. He had been expecting that 
Louis XV., who was fighting on the Rhine, would send 
him re-enforcements of sixty thousand troops ; but week 
after week passed, and no help came, for each of the mon- 
archs was willing to sacrifice the other in their own inter- 
ests. Frederick was now waking up to the idea that 
Maria Theresa, whom he had despised because a woman, 
was fully his equal in ability to raise and command 
armies, as well as in the intrigues of war. On Septem- 
ber 13, 1745, her husband was elected Emperor under the 
name of Francis I. ; but his wife, the "Queen Empress," 
as she was called, really exercised the power, not only in 
Austria, but all over the land, 

September 30, 1745, the enemy, with forty thousand 
men, surprised the Prussian army at the small village of 
Sorr, which is near Kdniggratz, the scene of the great 
victory of the latter over the Austrians nearly three-quar- 
ters of a century later, in 1866. Although the king's 
force was small, he handled his cavalry so well that he 
was victorious, and his renown went through all Europe. 
Learning that the Austrians with three difi^erent armies 
were secretly planning to march into Brandenburg, he 
manned all the outposts between Silesia and Bohemia, 
and after defeating the troops in Saxony, at Hennersdorf, 
November 30, he cut the Austrian army in two, himself 
then moving on toward Dresden. Leopold of Dessau at 
the same time marched up the Elbe from Magdeburg, and 
at Kesselsdor, near Dresden, December 15, won a hard 
battle. The great king, arriving on the field at the close 
of the fight, embraced the old general in sight of all the 



372 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

army. This was the last time the *'01d Dessauer " en- 
gaged in active warfare, though he lived a year and a 
half longer, dying a last of apoplexy. He was called by 
some "The cast-iron man." 

The next day the Prussians entered Dresden. Already 
letters were on the way from England in the interest of 
peace ; and in ten days the Treaty of Dresden was made, 
on Christmas, 1745. It confirmed Frederick in the pos- 
session of all Silesia and Glatz according to the Peace 
of Breslau, Frederick agreeing to recognize Francis of 
Lorraine as Emperor. These fierce encounters ended 
the Second Silesian War. Frederick was first called 
"the Great" by the nation and the world on his return 
to Berlin, where he was received with boundless and 
tumultuous rejoicing by the populace. He reached the 
Old Elector's palace midst the shouts of "Long live 
Frederick the Great." Standing for a moment upon the 
grand stairway, he surveyed the throngs of people, at the 
same time taking off his hat and saluting them. After 
this there was such a burst of applause as had never 
before been heard in Berlin. In the evening the whole 
city was illuminated. 

From the Emperor Charles Albert, Frederick had ob- 
tained East Friedland, a province advantageously situated 
on the sea. With this he might have carried out the 
Great Elector's cherished plan of building a navy, had 
he not always needed all his resources for his army. 

After the Peace of Dresden, Prussia enjoyed an ex- 
emption from hostilities for eleven years; but the War of 
the Austrian Succession lasted three years longer, and 
the field of conflict was shifted to Italy and Flanders. 
Morris of Saxony, son of Augustus II., conquered the 
Netherlands for France in 1747. Austria had regained 
much of her lost territory in Northern Italy. She, how- 



Second Silesian War. 373 

ever, formed an alliance with Empress Elizabeth of Rus- 
sia, who furnished forty thousand troops for carrying on 
the war. 

Louis XV. was obliged to sign a treaty at Aix-la- 
Chapelle in October, 1748. By it he was obliged to 
give up all the conquests which France had made during 
the war. Austria gave up Parma and Piacenza to Spain, 
and a portion of Lombardy to Sardinia. Maria Theresa 
was also obliged to confirm Frederick the Great in his 
possession of Silesia. 

Maria Theresa ended the war with great honor, but she 
could never overcome her grief at the loss of Silesia. 
Like Mary of England with respect to Calais, some histo- 
rian has said, "The word Silesia was written on her 
heart." The people of Austria also regretted the loss; 
and the bitter feeling about it shaped the policy of her 
ministers, and resulted finally in the Seven Years' War, 
Frederick the Great, too, during his whole life entertained 
the fear of losing Silesia, it being ever uppermost in his 
mind. 

An anecdote illustrates Frederick's constant excite- 
ment with respect to Silesia, as well as his fondness for 
children. He liked to have his grandnephews about 
him; and one day while he sat at work in his cabinet, 
the younger of the two, a boy of eight or nine, after- 
wards Frederick William IIL, who was playing about the 
the room, knocked his ball once and again into a pile of 
the king's papers. Frederick flung it back several times, 
but finally put it in his pocket, and went on with his 
work. " Please, your Majesty, give it back to me," begged 
the boy; and again his Majesty took no notice, until at 
length, in a tone of indignation, came the words, '"Will 
your Majesty give me back my ball, then?" The king 
looked up, and found the little Hohenzollern planted firm, 



374 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

"hands on haunches," and wearing quite a peremptory air. 
" Thou art a brave little fellow. They won't get Silesia 
out of thee!" cried he, laughing, and flinging him his 
ball. 

Through all his long life there was no point in which 
the greatness of Frederick shone so resplendently as 
where the welfare of his country was concerned. By 
personal economy and the good management of his court, 
he only spent one-sixth of his private income. And 
through all the dark period of his wars, he devoted the 
rest of his revenue to the support of his armies, without 
ever seeming to dream that he was doing a magnanimous 
thing. 

In the last part of the Seven Years' War, when Fred- 
erick's own heart was breaking, and only his heroic spirit 
buoyed him up, the people, who had been imbued with 
his love of country, bore want, privation, taxation, and 
the recruiting of men with great fortitude, both on account 
of their seeing the self-abnegation of their king, and be- 
cause they knew that the final partition of the kingdom 
meant its extinction. 

Frederick the Great called himself "the first employee 
of the State;" and he left nothing except details to his 
agents, no other man in Prussia working so hard as he. 
He made himself acquainted with the affairs of every 
little village, and took the responsibility upon himself of 
settling all differences, punishing every infraction of the 
law, and making necessary changes in its administration. 

During the eleven years of peace, after the Second 
Silesian War, Frederick the Great entered vigorously 
into the work of repairing the ruins caused by the devas- 
tating influences of the struggle. The burned villages of 
Silesia were rebuilt, the debts of the war paid, agriculture 
and commerce were encouraged, and the laws revised. 



Frederick the Great in Times of Peace. 375 

As during the two years of peace after the other Silesian 
war, he encouraged the fine arts, and sought to make the 
capital of the nation attractive to all who visited it for 
pleasure or culture. 

It was the king's habit to rise at four o'clock in sum- 
mer, and keep at his desk until towards evening, examin- 
ing letters and reports which always came addressed " To 
the King." As the day drew to a close he would take a 
little relaxation by playing the flute, making the rooms 
of the palace cheerful with the sound of this music which 
he loved so well. He would then stroll in the palace 
grounds followed by his greyhounds. In his will he 
directed that he should be buried in the garden of '' Sans 
Souci," beside these animals which had been his com- 
panions. It was soon after the close of this war that 
Frederick the Great built the palace of Sans Souci, since, 
weary of turmoil, he desired a place in which to be " Free 
from Care," as its name indicates. The story runs that 
Frederick was looking over the royal burying-ground near 
this beautiful palace, when he said to a companion, re- 
ferring to his own burial, " Oui., alors je serai sans souci " 
(Yes, then I shall be free from care). It was from this 
remark that this rural residence took its name. The 
words are written in golden letters on the door-post. It 
was finished in 1847, Frederick taking possession of it 
in May of that year ; and here he spent the most of his 
leisure time for the next forty years. He still had his 
palaces in Berlin and Charlottenburg, about twenty miles 
distant, which surpassed this in splendor, and which he 
usually visited on royal festive days. He also built the 
new palace at Potsdam, about a mile from Sans Souci, 
which in some respects surpassed in splendor all the rest. 
He also still held the palace at Rheinsberg, which his 
father had given him on the occasion of his marriage, 



3 76 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

and which he had beautified, and made his home until he 
ascended the throne. 

Writing was Frederick's favorite pastime at Sans Souci. 
In addition to carrying on an extensive literary corre- 
spondence, lie was assiduously employed in writing his 
memoirs. He also spent much of his time in studying 
up means to develop the resources of his kingdom. 
Although his country and his people were so dear to 
him, he despised their language, and sneered at German 
literature, being never willing to recognize such authors 
as Lessing, Klopstock, Herder, Goethe, and Schiller, 
who raised German letters to a glory which has never 
been eclipsed. 

In the military service, all classes were entitled to 
equal distinction, and promotion was gained through 
merit alone. A Hanoverian count asked for a position 
in the army on account of his exalted birth. Frederick 
replied, "I long ago have forbidden counts to be re- 
ceived as such into my army. The title can be of no 
use to your son; for counts who have learned nothing 
are the most ignorant people in the world." 

The severity of discipline in the Prussian army was 
most terrible. Many committed suicide to escape its 
hardships. The morning drill commenced at four o'clock; 
at midday they took fresh horses, and repeated the dan- 
gerous feats of the morning, in which they were compelled 
to leap trenches and hedges at the highest possible speed, 
continuing to charge for miles at a time. Daily some 
were either killed or wounded. Frequently they would 
be called from their beds two or three times in a night for 
practice, but eight minutes being allowed to present them- 
selves on horseback. Frederick considered this the best 
school for cavalry in the world. 

The king was a great snuff-taker. He always carried 



Frederick the Great in Times of Peace. ^yy 

two large snuff-boxes in his pocket, besides possessing 
others wliich stood upon tables everywhere around his 
room ready for use, the cheapest of these boxes costing 
fifteen -hundred dollars, and some that he had, studded 
with gems, cost seven thousand five hundred dollars. At 
his death there appeared in the inventory of his jewels 
one hundred and thirty snuff-boxes. 

In some respects Frederick the Great was a cold, soli- 
tary man ; he would take no advice from any one, and 
was ungallant to ladies. He cared nothing for any of the 
female sex except his mother and sister Wilhelmina, ex- 
cluding all women from his court. In describing the gay 
revels at Sans Souci, Voltaire said, "Neither women nor 
priests ever entered the palace. In a word, Frederick 
lived without a court, without a council, and without a 
religion. The various- superstitions of men were treated 
with ridicule and contempt, although liberty of speech 
was fully indulged. God was respected, but those who 
in his name had imposed on mankind were not spared." 

The king used to make practical comments on docu- 
ments sent for his inspection. On a " petition from the 
merchant Simon of Stettin to be allowed to purchase an 
estate for forty thousand thalers," he wrote: " Forty thou- 
sand thalers invested in commerce will yield eight per 
cent, in landed property only four per cent, so this man 
does not understand his own business." On the " peti- 
tion from the city of Frankfort-on-Oder against quarter- 
ing troops upon them," he wrote, "Why, it cannot be 
otherwise. Do they think I can put the regiment into my 
pocket ? But the barracks shall be built." On the " pe- 
tition of the Chamberlain Baron Miiller for leave to visit 
the baths of Aix-la-Chapelle," he wrote, " What would he 
do there ? He would gamble away the little money he 
has left, and come back a beggar." 



378 Germany : Hej- People and TJieir Story. 

He only allowed his court to spend one hundred thou- 
sand dollars a year, while even the petty princes were 
squandering quadruple that amount. 

Religious toleration was the crowning glory of Prussia. 
Frederick said boastingly, " I mean that every man in my 
kingdom shall have the right to be saved in his own way." 
It was this license that made Silesia adapt itself so joy- 
ously to the new rule ; for although the Protestants were 
no longer persecuted, the Catholics also had religious 
liberty. Frederick, although despotic, was not narrow in 
his despotism, for he always acted in a sensible manner, 
and for the right; but his government was not without 
its faults. The education of the masses he considered 
superfluous; and although he at first sent for Maupertuis 
to build up the Berlin Academy, he finally let it die out, 
and in its place promoted the interest of an institution 
where French theories were discussed and the French 
language used. 

During the years of peace, Frederick the Great in- 
creased his army, and kept it under excellent discipline; 
for even in the early years of this public tranquillity he 
saw that war-clouds were gathering, and knew that Maria 
Theresa, having never forgiven him for taking Silesia, 
would not rest until it was recovered. 

It was during this period of peace that the autumn 
manoeuvres, still kept up in Germany, commenced. Sen- 
tries were placed around the grounds, and the marshal 
prohibited any one from ascending the church-tower to 
see the drill. After the Seven Years' War, however, 
foreign officers were always permitted to be present; ever 
since that time these exercises have been growing more 
and more public, until now they are viewed each year by 
thousands of people. 



The Seven Year's' War. 379 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. 
1756—1763 A.D. 

AS early as 1753 Frederick the Great had learned that 
±\. the indefatigable and persevering queen, being 
more and more unreconciled to the loss of Silesia, was 
making secret negotiations with Russia by a treaty at 
Warsaw, which was hostile to the interests of Prussia. 
That same year England and France came to an issue in 
regard to the boundaries in America between Canada and 
the English Colonies; and, as Hanover was still con- 
nected with England in the person of George H., Fred- 
erick saw that the war would be at his very door. 

Count Kaunitz was the prime minister of Austria, and 
he shared the queen's hatred of Frederick. They both 
perceived that this trouble between France and England 
would give them a pretext for war, and that through this 
they might recover Silesia. 

Austria knew that England had always been in favor 
of peace with Prussia on account of Hanover, therefore 
Maria Theresa turned her attention to an alliance with 
her old enemy, France. It is said she even wrote flatter- 
ing letters to Madame Pompadour, who under Louis XV. 
was the ruler of France, beginning "My dear Cousin," 
and " My dear Sister." She also sent her handsome pres- 
ents. Taken in by these devices, Madame Pompadour 
was easily induced to espouse the cause of Austria. She 
did this also on account of her hatred of Frederick the 



380 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

Great, who had mortally offended her by using against 
her his favorite weapon, sarcasm, as he had on one occa- 
sion done with Elizabeth of Russia. 

Young Peter, afterwards Peter III., at this time Grand- 
Duke, and always an ardent admirer of the king, had in- 
formed him by a private letter that Russia and Austria 
were plotting, and that having made a secret treaty at 
Warsaw as early as 1753, they would both be ready for 
action in the spring. Frederick also heard through con- 
fidential agents in Dresden all the particulars of the alli- 
ance, and that the papers were preserved in the archives 
of the State. He immediately tried to conclude a peace 
with England, and in 1756 completed the arrangement. 
Besides England he had only Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel, 
and Saxe-Gotha to help him. Taking advantage of the 
information gained concerning Austria's preparation for 
war, after having received an evasive answer concerning 
the situation from Maria Theresa, he determined to an- 
ticipate her by prompt action. 

On August 29, 1756, Frederick the Great led seventy 
thousand men in three columns into Saxony. The Saxon 
army consisted of only eighteen thousand soldiers, who 
intrenched themselves at Pirna, and made an obstinate 
resistance. A fierce battle at Lobositz, on October i, where 
the enemy were beaten at the point of the bayonet, com- 
pelled the Saxons to surrender. Frederick now pushed 
on to Dresden, sending his Scotch general ahead to de- 
mand the papers which convicted Austria and Russia of 
the initiative in the war. 

The Queen of Poland, wife of Augustus III., was the 
daughter of the late Emperor Joseph I. Augustus III. 
was also the Elector of Saxony; and he had at this time 
been permitted to flee to his kingdom of Poland, whence 
he never returned. His wife guarded the archives, and 



TJie Scvejt Years' War. 381 

not only refused to give up the papers revealing the plot 
against the King of Prussia, but she sat on the box con- 
taining them, and only produced them when she was 
obliged to do so by force. 

These victories in Saxony insured the Electorate to 
the King of Prussia during the Seven Years' War. 

In January, 1757, the Austrians found they must put 
an army into the field. Frederick was placed under the 
ban of the Empire ; and the courts of St. Petersburg, 
Versailles, and Vienna made a treaty for the partition 
of Prussia. Silesia, Glatz, and a part of Brandenburg 
were to go to Austria; Magdeburg, Halle, the Duchy of 
Halberstadt, to Saxony; the Prussian lands of the Rhine 
were to go to the Elector Palatine; and Sweden, under 
the protectorate of France, was to have Pomerania. Aus- 
tria resuscitated her old obsolete Diet, and declared war 
against Prussia, and with the allies put four hundred and 
thirty thousand troops into the field. Frederick the Great 
could only raise two hundred thousand ; but these were 
picked men, the best in the world. England was able to 
spare no men, but she sent the Duke of Cumberland, who 
proved to be worse than no general; and at this time the 
alliance between the countries was very unsatisfactory. 

Just as Frederick was setting out in this new struggle, 
on January 10, he left the following secret instructions 
with his minister, Count Finck, " Should my army in 
Saxony be beaten, send the royal family to Custrin. If 
the French get possession of Hanover, or the Russians 
break through at Neumark, remove them to Magdeburg, 
and save the archives. Always keep garrison and royal 
family together. In such a case coin all silver and gold 
plate into money. Should I be taken prisoner, I forbid 
you to pay the least attention to anything I may com- 
mand in my place of detention, but obey my brother in 



382 Germany : Her People mid Their Story. 

all things. On peril of your life offer no province or ran- 
som for me, for I wish to sacrifice myself for the State. 
Continue to prosecute the war as if I had never lived." 
At this time he took leave of his mother, whom he never 
saw again. 

The year 1757 was the most brilliant of Frederick's 
life. Though he gained his greatest victories, he also 
suffered his most humiliating defeats ; and it was then 
that his courage failed him for almost the only time in 
his life. 

With his dwindling resources, and the strong alliance 
of Austria, France, Russia, Sweden, and nearly all the 
states of the Empire against him, and hardly more than 
a handful of men, he fought against half of Europe, 
his strategic skill, in contests where he was victorious, 
supplying the place of numbers. He wrote, about this 
time, " How astonished the Great Elector would be, could 
he see his great-grandson at war at the same time with 
Russia, Austria, Germany, and France, with a hundred 
thousand soldiers ! I do not know whether it will be dis- 
graceful in me to be overcome, but I am sure there will 
be no great glory in vanquishing me." 

On April 18, 1757, Frederick entered Bohemia with one 
hundred and seventeen thousand men in four columns. 
He directed his march to Prague, and there the bloodiest 
battle was fought since Eugene and Marlborough won 
the great victory at Malplaquet. The Prussian infantry 
was mowed down by the fire of the Austrians ; and when 
old Marshal Schwerin saw them wavering, he snatched a 
standard from a fleeing ensign and shouted, "On, my 
children!" The same instant he fell. Nearly all of 
Frederick's generals leaped from their horses, and led 
their troops sword in hand. Soon after this the heights 
were taken, and the Austrians driven back into the city 



The Seven Years' War. 383 

of Prague. The enemy lost twenty-four thousand, the 
Prussians eighteen thousand, besides Marshal Schwerin, 
who was equal to ten thousand men. For many years 
this victory was celebrated in a piece of music called 
"The March of Prague." 

This conquest made the King of Prussia too self- 
confident, for subsequently the battle of Kollin ended 
in disaster. In the battle of Kollin, fought January 18, 
1757, the Prussian forces attacked the Austrians with 
only thirty-one thousand men against double their num- 
ber. A mistake was made in directing the attack; and 
though at one time the Austrians gave up the battle, the 
Prussians, who fought with the recklessness of men ready 
to sacrifice their lives for their king and country, were 
so much exhausted that they were obliged to retire. The 
king strove in vain to stem the tide and rally the fugi- 
tives, until one of his officers remonstrated, saying, " Does 
your Majesty mean to fight the battle alone?" As the 
army was on the retreat, when Frederick, sinking from 
thirst, burning with heat, and covered with dust, stopped 
to rest, an old dragoon brought him, in his steel cap, some 
water which he had drawn from a well near by, saying 
consolingly, "Never mind. Sire, God Almighty and we 
will mend this yet. The enemy may get a victory for 
once, but that doesn't finish us." 

That evening Frederick the Great was found seated 
by himself, drawing figures in the sand with his cane. 
He wept when he saw the remnant of his guard of one 
thousand brave men now reduced to four hundred, all of 
whom he knew personally, — their names, their age, their 
place of birth, and their history generally. They had 
fought like heroes, and died for him; and after a long 
silence, he said, "It is a day of sorrow for us, my chil- 
dren, but have patience, for all will yet be well." 



384 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

"The defeat at Kollin obliged the King of Prussia to 
raise the blockade of Prague immediately, and retreat 
from Bohemia. On returning from Saxony in July, he 
had only seventy thousand troops left of the one hundred 
and seventeen thousand with which he entered Bohemia. 
He found also that his other armies had been defeated 
by a superior Russian force, and that the useless Duke of 
Cumberland had surrendered Hanover to France. This 
was another of the occasions on which Frederick the 
Great carried a vial of poison. For in all his wars he 
meant never to be taken alive, nor to survive the ruin of 
his kingdom. He had at that moment also received news 
of his beloved mother's death, and this greatly increased 
the melancholy of his mind. He wrote to Wilhelmina, 
" I grieve to announce to you the new sorrow which over- 
whelms us. We no longer have a mother. All worldly 
calamities can be remedied, but loss by death is beyond 
the power of help. This affliction puts the crown on all 
my sorrows." 

A combined army of French and German troops, con- 
sisting of sixty thousand men, under Marshal Soubise, 
was approaching from the west, ready to take up winter 
quarters in Berlin. The Prussians numbered only twenty- 
two thousand men. The French were eager for an attack, 
but they doubted whether a victory over so small an army 
would bring them any glory. They thought that the 
enemy, being so few in number, would try to escape, and 
they feared that they should lose the chance of fighting 
with them. The generals discussed the merits of this 
"Marquis of Brandenburg," and wondered if he knew 
what an honor they were conferring upon him by con- 
descending to join in such a battle with him. 

Again he writes to his sister, "Since the league of 
Cambrai there is no example of such a conspiracy as 



The Seven Years' War. 385 

that infamous triumvirate, Austria, France, and Russia, 
now forms against me. Happy, my dear sister, is the 
obscure man who has renounced all sorts of glory." 

Rossbach is a little village near Lutzen, the place in 
which Gustavus Adolphus met his death. To the south 
is the fatal field of Jena, where half a century later, in 
1806, the nation Prussia's great sovereign had built up 
seemed about to succumb. This victory at Rossbach was 
the most complete rout for the Austrians of which history 
makes mention. 

Frederick was at dinner on the 5th of November when 
he received news of the attack. The Prussians quickly 
formed in line, and fell upon the enemy like a tempest. 
The French were panic-stricken at the fury of the Prus- 
sians, and on the part of the latter the day was more 
like a rout than a battle. Frederick had only half of 
his troops in the engagement. Seidlitz burst upon the 
French with eight thousand cavalry, and their ranks were 
shattered by the fire of the Prussian guns. The enemy 
were thrown into confusion, and in an hour and a half 
from the commencement of the battle were flying in a 
wild panic from the field. They lost nine generals, three 
hundred and twenty other officers, and seven thousand 
men ; while the casualties on the Prussian side were 
only ninety-one dead and two hundred and twenty-four 
wounded. The French army did not halt until it reached 
the Rhine, and was so broken up that it never rallied 
again. This wonderful victory made Frederick the Great 
the hero of Europe. 

Duke Brunswick-Bevern had retreated from Breslau 
before an Austrian force of eight hundred thousand men 
under General Daun and Charles of Lorraine. The Aus- 
trians took the important fortress of Schweidnitz, profit- 
ing by a mistake of the Duke ; and he, fearing Frederick's 



386 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

wrath, allowed himself to be taken prisoner. By means 
of this surrender, Breslau fell into the hands of the 
Austrians. 

The battle of Leuthen was the greatest of Frederick's 
engagements. The Austrians played completely into the 
hands of the Prussians, who made up for the great dis- 
parity in numbers by the most adroit tactics; the former 
lost more in killed, wounded, and prisoners than all of 
the Prussian army. Had the Austrians been content to 
stay intrenched in their camp at Breslau, they could 
hardly have failed to repulse the Prussians; but they 
felt ashamed to sit still and be attacked by Frederick's 
small force, his "Potsdam Guard Parade," as they called 
his army in derision. Frederick said to his soldiers the 
night after the battle, "My children, this day will send 
the renown of your name and that of the nation down to 
the latest posterity." It is the testimony of all military 
experts that the battle of Leuthen was one of the most 
extraordinary feats of war. Napoleon, speaking of it 
after his downfall, said, "This battle was a masterpiece 
of movements, manoeuvres, and of pluck." Voltaire said 
of the campaign of 1757, " Even Gustavus Adolphus never 
did such great things. The faults of the man disappear 
before the glory of the hero." In response to the adu- 
lation Frederick received, he replied that he was only 
a paltry knave in comparison with Alexander, and not 
worthy to tie the latchets of Caesar's shoes, and that 
necessity alone caused him to make all his great moves. 

The address just before the battle of Leuthen, which 
Frederick, contrary to his custom, delivered to his army, 
had much to do with this great success. He said, " I am 
about to violate all the rules of military science by at- 
tacking an adversary three times as numerous as my own 
legions. We must beat the enemy or perish before his 



TJic Seven Years' War. 387 

batteries. I mean this, and thus I shall act. Remember 
that you are Prussians; but if any one of you is afraid to 
share with me the last danger, he may resign to-day with- 
out a word of reproach from me." The king gazed round, 
and read on every glowing face the answer, and then went 
on, "Any regiment of cavalry which does not at the word 
of command throw itself upon the foe unhesitatingly 
shall be sent to garrison duty after the battle. Any bat- 
talion of infantry which once falters shall lose its stan- 
dards and sidearms, and the border shall be cut from 
its uniform. Farewell, gentlemen. We soon shall have 
beaten the enemy, or we shall meet no more." In an- 
swer they all shouted, "Yes, death or victory." Then 
the cheer ran along the line, "Good-night, Fritz." It is 
said no other commander, unless it were Napoleon or 
Alexander the Great, ever received such love from his 
soldiers; and this no doubt was one great element of his 
success. 

The king's heroic courage was imparted to his officers 
and men. At dawn on the 5th of December the troops 
sang a solemn hymn, after which shouts arose, *Tt is 
again the 5th!" and " Rossbach ! " Frederick called 
General Zieten, and said, " I must expose myself to-day 
more than usual. Should I fall, cover my body with 
your cloak, and say nothing to any one. The battle must 
go on, and the enemy must be beaten." By immense 
strategic ability, notwithstanding his small force, Fred- 
erick won the day. After the victory, the whole Prus- 
sian army began to sing, a grenadier striking up the 
grand hymn beginning, " Nun danket alle Gott " (Now let 
all thank God). Frederick ended the campaign that year 
without loss of territory, and with great honor to himself, 
the enemy having^been driven out of Silesia. 

The reputation Frederick the Great had gained by his 



388 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

victories at Rossbach and Leuthen helped him so much 
with the English that they granted him a subsidy of four 
million thalers a year, and allowed him the privilege of 
appointing a commander for the troops of Hanover and 
other allied states. Frederick now retook Schweidnitz, 
April 16, and held all of Silesia; and by the summer 
of 1758 Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick had driven the 
French from all Northern Germany. 

After this his prosperity seemed to decline. The Aus- 
trian General Laudon cut off his communication with 
Silesia, and forced him to retreat across the frontier. The 
Russians had conquered the whole of the Duchy of Prus- 
sia and overrun Pomerania, where they plundered and 
laid waste the country in such a frightful manner that 
Frederick, enraged at the sufferings of his people, for- 
bade giving any quarter to the invaders. 

At Zorndorf, August 25, 1758, there was the fiercest 
and most frightful battle of the war. It has been con- 
sidered the fiercest engagement in history. General Seid- 
litz, the finest cavalry officer of his time, repeatedly 
restored the broken Prussian lines. He finally won the 
battle by disobeying the king's orders. The latter sent 
him word that he must answer for his disobedience with 
his head. Seidlitz replied, ''Tell the king he may have 
my head when the battle is over, but until then I must 
use it in his service." Late at night the Russians were 
defeated, and left twenty thousand dead on the field; for 
the Prussians, enraged at the cruelties of the latter, gave 
them no quarter. When Frederick finally met Seidlitz, 
he embraced him, and said, " I owe the victory to you." 

All the Prussian army were sleeping soundly at Hoch- 
kirch on the 13th of October, when the camp was sud- 
denly attacked by Daun with an overwhelming force. 
The village was set on fire, and a terrible fight ensued. 



The Seven Years' War. 389 

Prince Francis of Brunswick, Marshal Keith, and Prince 
Morris of Dessau were severely wounded. Although the 
Prussians defended themselves heroically, on the morn- 
ing of the 14th they were obliged to retreat, leaving all 
their equipments behind. This was a bad omen for the 
coming year, and closed the campaign of 1758 with an 
aspect of gloom. 

The fourth day after this dreadful defeat, the king 
received the tidings of the death of his beloved sister 
Wilhelmina. It was the heaviest blow in reality he had 
ever received ; for in addition to the early ties that bound 
them together, Wilhelmina had supported him by her love 
and sympathy all through the melancholy years of this 
last terrible war. In a business letter to his brother 
Henry he said, "Great God! my sister of Bayreuth, my 
noble Wilhelmina, dead! She was dying during the un- 
fortunate hours of this last fierce fight." He also wrote 
to Voltaire, "There are some misfortunes which can be 
made up by constancy and courage; but there are others 
against which no decision of character can defend one, 
and all philosophy is vain and useless in offering conso- 
lation." The anxiety which Wilhelmina had entertained 
with reference to the reverses of her brother had worn 
upon her delicate constitution, and shortened her life. 

The Pope was so pleased at General Daun's victory, 
that he sent him a consecrated hat and sword. Frederick 
ever after called him "the blessed general with the Papal 
hat." 

The resources of the Prussians were exhausted, and in 
spite of the English subsidy, the army was in great straits; 
but Frederick determined if need be to bury himself be- 
neath the ruins of his kingdom. He now tried in vain 
to negotiate for peace. The French gained possession 
of Hanover; and the enemy, seventy thousand strong, 



390 Germany : Her' People and TJteir Story. 

marched against the Prussian army, surprising them at 
Konersdorf, August 12, 1759, the Prussians meeting them 
with only forty-eight thousand men. Contrary to the 
advice of Seidlitz, Frederick the Great ordered a charge 
on the right wing of the enemy, which was so strong that 
twenty thousand of his troops lay dead upon the field. 
Seidlitz was severely wounded, and Frederick lost his 
services for many months. In the king's retreat only three 
thousand of his soldiers accompanied him. Three bullets 
passed through his uniform, one crushing a field-glass in 
in his breast pocket. That night he slept on straw in a 
peasant's hut. 

Never was a monarch surrounded by so many foes. 
Three hundred thousand men extended in a line from 
the Giant Mountains to the ocean. In the north was 
Russia, and all the leading Continental powers, — France, 
Austria, Russia, Sweden, and the German Empire, — all 
combined against Prussia. England lent Frederick small 
sums of money, the court co-operating only as far as her 
interests demanded. No human being ever displayed 
more fortitude and energy. Frederick now, however, was 
almost in despair, being unable to decide what to do. He 
wrote to his minister, Fickenstein, " I have no resources 
left, and to tell the truth, I hold all for lost. I shall not 
survive the ruin of my country. Farewell forever. " That 
same night he resigned the command of his army to 
General Finck. 

Prussia was only saved by the disagreement of the 
allies, since the Russians, on account of fearing the Aus- 
trian influence in Germany, were not willing to increase 
the power of the latter. General Soltikoff was instructed 
not to advance on Berlin, and he returned to Pomerania; 
but Dresden was taken by Daun, September 4, and Gen- 
eral Finck, with eleven thousand men, capitulated on 



TJie Seven Years' War. 391 

November 2 1 to a force of forty thousand. Thus ended 
this unfortunate year of 1759. There had been but one 
encouraging event for the king. Ferdinand of Brunswick 
had rescued Westphalia, and saved Frederick from being 
hemmed in between two armies. The latter still held 
half of Saxony, and kept his army in winter quarters 
there. All Silesia, except the fortresses, was in the hands 
of the enemy; and the Austrians, intoxicated by their 
success, refused all negotiations. 

Many men in all nations now desired peace, but there 
were three w^omen who kept Europe for some time longer 
deluged in blood. Maria Theresa had ample cause for 
war; but the reason for the persevering martial activity 
of Elizabeth of Russia and the Duchess of Pompadour, 
the ruler of the subjugated Louis XV., was simply per- 
sonal pique. 

In the winter of this great perplexity, Frederick used 
to visit his soldiers at their watch-fires, and receive their 
hearty though rough hospitality in return. " Don't forget 
the wisp of straw, that I may not have to sleep on the 
ground as last night," he would say to his men. When 
he returned to spend the night on his bed of straw with 
them, he would salute them with, "Good-evening, chil- 
dren ; " and they would respond, " The same to you, Fritz." 
He would often ask them what they were cooking, and 
try a spoonful of their broth. He never smoked, and dis- 
liked the habit very much ; but when he found the sol- 
diers enjoying this luxury, and about to desist on his 
approach, he would say, " Smoke away." Of one of these 
seasons he wrote, " I have passed my winter like a Car- 
thusian monk. I dine alone; I spend my life in reading 
and writing, and I do not sup. If fortune continues to 
pursue me, doubtless I shall sink. I escape out of my 
difficulties by looking at the universe on the great scale, 



392 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

as from some distant planet. All then seems to me so 
infinitely small, I could almost pity my enemies for tak- 
ing so much trouble about so little a thing as myself." 

The year 1760 opened no better for Frederick. George 
II. of England died October 25. The influence of the 
elder William Pitt, who had sustained Prussia, declined, 
and another ministry coming in the subsidy was not re- 
newed. It was now very hard to find new soldiers, and 
all of Frederick's well-drilled men lay dead upon the 
battlefields. The adventurers who flocked to his army 
in prosperity deserted him in his straits. Every means 
was used to muster recruits ; but only ninety thousand 
men could be raised, while the allies had two hundred 
and eighty thousand. All Silesia, except Breslau, was 
overrun by the Austrians. Marshal Laudon, who had 
command of the Austrian troops, effected a junction with 
Daun, and followed Frederick from Saxony, and on the 
15th of August attacked the Prussian troops at Liegnitz 
with a force of ninety-five thousand; but, Frederick with 
only thirty-five thousand men, won a splendid victory, so 
that the Russian army, hearing of it, turned back, and 
Silesia, excepting the fortress of Glatz, was restored to 
Prussia. While Frederick was following up his success, 
the Austrians and Saxons marched upon Berlin ; and it 
surrendered October 9. One million seven hundred thou- 
sand thalers were levied by the conquerors. The garri- 
son at Berlin, with General Seidlitz, who was recovering 
from his wounds, retired to Spandau. Hearing that 
Frederick was approaching, the army marched out of the 
city October 12. General Haddick extorted a ransom of 
one hundred and forty thousand dollars and two dozen 
pairs of gloves for the Empress Queen. The Berliners 
declared that they gave him the two dozen all for the 
left hand. 



The Seven Years'' War. 393 

The bloodiest battle of the Seven Years' War, and the 
last of the frightful hand to hand assaults, was fought 
at Torgau, where the Prussian monarchy was saved from 
utter annihilation. Frederick assaulted the heights, and 
was wounded. Out of his small force, ten thousand sol- 
diers lay dead upon the field. On account of his wounds 
he was carried to the village church, thinking his army 
was beaten. He spent the night in making plans for the 
morrow. At dawn General Zieten, who held the other 
half of the army, came to the king, and announced that 
without knowing it he had been victorious, fighting in 
the dark, and that the Austrians, as the morning light 
showed, had retreated, and left the field covered with their 
slain ; whereupon General Zieten cried, " Boys, hurrah 
for our king ! He has won the battle." The men cried 
out, " Hurrah for Fritz, our king ! and hurrah for Father 
Zieten too ! " 

The end of 1760 found Frederick the Great in a seri- 
ous position. He could make no alliance, not even with 
the Turks. Although there was not a single pitched bat- 
tle in 1761, it was with great diificulty that Frederick and 
his brother Prince Henry, with the most skilful tactics, 
kept the enemy at bay. The ist of October, General Lau- 
don took Schweidnitz, and strengthened his position in 
Pomerania. 

When the year 1761 drew to a close Frederick's pros- 
pects were darker than ever. For more than a year the 
country had been on the verge of ruin, but the genius of 
Prussia's great king had shone out more resplendently 
each time he extricated himself from the difficulties around 
him; now, however, he seemed powerless to go forward. 
With four million people he was obliged to fight allied 
powers numbering eighty millions. 

At this critical juncture of affairs, the death of a woman 



394 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

changed everything. In January, 1762, Empress Eliza- 
beth of Russia died, and was succeeded by Czar Peter III. 
The later had always been a devoted Liend, and such an 
admirer of Frederick that he imitatea him even in his 
weaknesses. Peter respected the king's military genius 
so much that he offended the Russians by wearing a Prus- 
sian uniform. The first thing Peter III. did was to send 
back all Frederick's prisoners, and transfer his own troops 
in Pomerania and Silesia, who were co-operating with the 
Austrians, to the Prussian side. Sweden, influenced by 
the course of Russia, also made peace, and a brighter day 
dawned. 

Fortune did not permit the difficulties to come to an 
end so speedily. In July, Peter III. was dethroned and 
murdered, and Catharine II. broke off the alliance with 
Frederick the Great, and called home her troops. The 
latter was about to attack the enemy at Burgersdorf when 
these tidings came like a thunderbolt ; but Frederick per- 
suaded the Russian ambassador to conceal the news for 
three days, and meanwhile he defeated the Austrians ; 
and on the 8th of October Schweidnitz fell. 

In looking over her husband's letters, Catharine II. 
found important documents received from Frederick the 
Great, in which he advised Peter III., who had always 
treated her indifferently, to show her more consideration, 
and to admit her into his plans for the government of 
the nation. This changed her feelings towards Fred- 
erick, and she hastened to take neutral ground with ref- 
erence to the war. The king had brought about this 
marriage between Peter III. and his wife. She was the 
daughter of a Prussian general. Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, 
at that time commandant at Stettin. Sophie Frederika 
was then fifteen years old, handsome, and full of vivacity. 
Frederick interviewed Peter's aunt, the Czarina Eliza- 



The Seven Years' War. 395 

beth, saying, " Why should not the kindred of Albert the 
Bear cease skipping rope on the ramparts of Stettin, and 
prepare to become Czarina of Russia." And Elizabeth 
said, " Excellent ! " When Sophie embraced the Greek 
religion she received the name in baptism of Catharine, 
and became the celebrated and intellectual, though dis- 
solute and intriguing, Queen Catharine II. of Russia. 

Prince Henry defeated the Austrians at Freiburg the 
I St of November, and Ferdinand of Brunswick drove the 
French out of Cassel. Frederick marched on to Dres- 
den, and riddled it with his cannon, but he could not 
take it. 

Negotiations were now going on between England and 
France, and the popular feeling in England cornpelled a 
stipulation that the French troops should be withdrawn 
from Germany. The German Empire concluded an arm- 
istice with Prussia at Ratisbon, and before the year 
closed, Austria was left to carry on the war alone. Maria 
Theresa was powerless against Frederick the Great, and 
could only purchase peace by giving up Silesia. On the 
15th of February, 1763, a treaty was signed at Huberts- 
burg, a little hunting-castle near Leipsic, and the Seven 
Years' War was at an end. 



396 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XL. 

FREDERICK THE GREAT'S ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERN- 
MENT. HIS ARBITRARY RULE. PARTITION OF POLAND. 

DEATH OF MARIA THERESA. JOSEPH II. FREDE- 
RICK'S LAST YEARS AND DEATH. — PROGRESS OF GERMANY 
AFTER SEVEN YEARS' WAR. 

1763—1786 A.D. 

THE Peace of Hubertsburg confirmed the treaties of 
Breslau and Dresden, and left Frederick in pos- 
session of Silesia and Glatz. According to his own esti- 
mate, this occupation of Silesia had cost eight hundred 
and fifty-three thousand lives, this number perishing on 
the field of battle, more than a quarter of whom were 
Prussians. 

Frederick was now universally called "the Great;" 
and during the next twenty-three years, until the end of 
his life, he showed himself worthy of the name. 

On the evening of the 30th of March, 1763, about nine 
o'clock, Frederick arrived in Berlin after an absence of 
six years. As soon as it was known that their great 
sovereign had reached the town, the city burst into one 
grand series of illuminations, the streets resounding with 
the rejoicings of the people. 

Frederick again exerted himself to restore the pros- 
perity of his country. The grain which had been saved 
up for the army he distributed among the farmers, and 
gave them all the cavalry horses which could be spared. 
He still kept up the strictest economy in government ex- 
penses, and scattered all the rest of the revenue over the 



Frederick the Great's Administration. 397 

territory which had undergone the most. He found that 
the nobles on whom he had depended had suffered greatly 
in their estates, and he did all he could to build up their 
prosperity again. The coin, which had become so de- 
based, in a little more than a year was restored to its 
purity. In two years fourteen thousand five hundred 
houses were built, since in some sections out of thirteen 
hundred buildings not a vestige remained. There were 
no police in the towns, and order had given place to 
anarchy and greed of gain. The rich abbeys of the 
Roman Catholics were seized, and turned into manufac- 
tories for weaving and working of metals, and oil-mills, 
etc. Frederick doubled his army as soon as he was able, 
and kept it in working order ready for whatever emer- 
gency, in the present unsettled state of all the govern- 
ments of Europe, was likely at any time to occur. He 
repaired all his fortresses, and built new ones wher- 
ever they were required. Though he still gave five-sixths 
of his personal income to his people, the latter could 
hardly bear the necessary taxation still imposed upon 
them. So he laid a tax on salt, coffee, and tobacco, 
which he thought they could better bear. He drained 
marshes, opened canals, and improved the country in 
every conceivable way. He built churches for Protes- 
tants and Catholics alike; for he had no fixed faith him- 
self, and encouraged all kinds of religious doubt. His 
justice was shown in small as well as in important affairs. 
He once left a windmill standing on his ground near the 
palace of Sans Souci, because the miller would not 
sell it, and did not want to part with it. The windmill 
stands there to-day, and now belongs to the Prussian 
government. 

There was one thing which Frederick the Great always 
insisted upon, and that was arbitrary power, and the com- 



398 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

plete submission of the people to his will; but since 
every day they saw his desire to promote their welfare 
illustrated by his personal devotion to them, they trusted 
him, and were glad to accede to his wishes and demands. 

In 1750 Frederick had invited Voltaire to Berlin and 
Potsdam, where he remained for three years. Voltaire 
was brutal in many of his actions, and by his intolerance 
of German habits, and by his arrogance, made many ene- 
mies. He finally grew so insupportable by his assump- 
tion of power that he quarrelled with the king himself. 
Voltaire wanted to learn the art of government, and 
meddled with state affairs ; while Frederick thought he 
could write as good verse as Voltaire and continually sent 
his poetry to the latter for inspection. Once at dinner 
Voltaire called a noble young page who was waiting upon 
him a Pomeranian beast. Soon after the youth, when 
on a journey, told a crowd of people that the little thin 
figure, grinning and chattering in the royal carriage, was 
the king's monkey. And when Voltaire tried to open 
the doors, they closed them to catch him; and the more 
he raged, the more he acted like a m.onkey. There are 
many reminiscences still of the life Frederick and Vol- 
taire led in the old palace of Sans Souci at Potsdam, 
where they spent the time together. All through the 
Seven Years' War, Voltaire was treacherous in his deal- 
ings with Frederick, through malice involving him many 
times with the French nation by falsehood and misrepre- 
sentation. 

Two years after this prolonged and terrible war, Fran- 
cis I. suddenly died while the court was at Innsbruck 
celebrating the festivities of his son Leopold's marriage, 
August 18, 1765. 

Francis was a good man, whom Maria Theresa loved 
devotedly. His death almost broke her heart, and for 



Frederick the Great's Administration. 399 

the rest of her life she used to spend many hours 
beside his coffin in the vault of the chapel of her palace 
at Vienna. In preparing for his burial, she would let no 
other hands sew the garments he was to wear. 

One of the conditions of the Peace of Hubertsberg 
was that Frederick the Great should give his Electoral 
vote for Joseph, the eldest son of Leopold, as " King of 
the Romans." Joseph II. was twenty-four years old 
when he was crowned. He was an impetuous and in- 
tellectual character, imbued with the progressive ideas 
of the day and of all the reform movements. He ad- 
mired Frederick the Great, and would have gladly imi- 
tated his devotion to work and his capacity for minute 
detail ; but he did not possess the balance of mind 
which helped to make up Frederick's greatness. When 
he tried to introduce reforms into the Empire, he found 
how fossilized, insignificant, and obsolete its power had 
become. As a ruler, he had only the care of the military 
affairs, his mother still keeping the control not only of 
the government of Austria, but of most of the details 
which concerned the Empire. 

Joseph went to visit Frederick the Great under the 
name of Count Falkenstein ; and he and the King of 
Prussia were so pleased with each other that the 
Emperor always spoke of Frederick as "the king, my 
master," while Frederick kept the walls of his rooms at 
Sans Souci covered with portraits of Joseph II., as a 
young man of whom he could not see enough. When 
they first met, Joseph said, " Now my wishes are fulfilled, 
since I have the honor to embrace the greatest of kings 
and soldiers." Frederick replied, "I look upon this 
day as the fairest of my life, for it will become the 
epoch of uniting two houses which have been enemies 
too Ions:." 



400 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

Joseph II. had imbibed the King of Prussia's free- 
thinking notions, and his theories took the form of 
church reformation. He closed more than half of the 
monasteries in Austria, and devoted the estates con- 
nected with them to public instruction. Like Fred- 
erick, he issued an Edict of Toleration by which the 
Protestants secured civil rights and freedom of worship. 
Pope Pius VI. visited Vienna in March, 1782, when 
Joseph II. received him respectfully, but would not let 
the Austrian clergy interview him. He even walled up 
the back door of his palace with solid masonry, lest his 
attendants should be bribed, aiid some of the church 
party should get in privately. 

Frederick the Great persuaded Joseph to take part in 
the wicked scheme of seizing unhappy Poland, and 
dividing it between Austria, Russia, and Prussia. It 
was nine years after the close of the Seven Years' War 
that the Partition of Poland was effected. It came 
about in this way; One year after the war had closed, 
Augustus III., Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, 
died. The nobles had become so unbridled in their in- 
dependence, and the country so dismembered generally, 
that they were easily persuaded by Catharine II. of 
Russia to elect Prince Poniatowsky as Augustus' suc- 
cessor. This brought on a civil war, since the new 
king granted equal rights to the Protestants and 
Catholics. 

The suggestion concerning the first partition of 
Poland was made by Catharine II. to Prince Henry of 
Prussia one evening at a court gathering. Frederick, 
on hearing it, seeing the need of Catharine's support, 
and wishing to pacify her, entered heartily into the 
plan. He thought it bad policy also to leave such 
valuable booty to Russia, taking no share to himself. 



Partition of Poland. 40 1 

Maria Theresa finally consented, but said she yielded 
because so many great and wise men desired it; but 
that the result of violating all that had been held 
sacred and just would be apparent long after she was 
dead. By the partition, Prussia received West or Polish 
Prussia, and some bishoprics and other territory besides. 
It gave her an addition of seven hundred thousand in- 
habitants. Austria received for her portion the most 
fertile and populous districts, Galicia and Lodomeria. 
This still left two-thirds of its original territory and one- 
half of its population to Poland. Although it was only 
an area of nine thousand four hundred and sixty-five 
square miles, the Prussian dominion had received what 
to her was the most advantageous share, because, by 
this new acquisition, Brandenburg was now united to 
East Prussia by land belonging to its own domain. The 
region thus annexed was so desolated by war that 
thousands lived in the cellars of their demolished 
houses. Frederick with great energy developed its re- 
sources, emigrants were transported, the roads improved, 
canals dug, and one hundred and eighty-seven school- 
masters sent into the country. Thus by Frederick's 
almost superhuman efforts a great benefit was rendered 
this unfortunate country. 

Although Joseph II. was so much under the influence 
of Frederick, they did not agree on the succession of Ba- 
varia. In 1777 Maximilian, the Elector of Bavaria, died, 
and Joseph II. set up an unjust claim to the most of the 
Electorate through one of his ancestors descended from 
Sigismund through the female line. He finally brought 
the young Elector Charles over into giving it up. Since 
none of the German principalities wished to see Austria 
increasing in power, Frederick took up the cause of 
Charles Theodor, and marched with an army into his 



402 Gervtany : Her People and Their Story. 

dominion; but lie held Joseph 11. in such high esteem 
that he skilfully avoided a battle, saying he had come to 
teach the young man some of his military tactics. Maria 
Theresa secretly opened negotiations with the king with- 
out the knowledge of her son, telling the former that she 
could not bear to think of their tearing each other's gray 
hairs. 

When Joseph 11. heard that his mother had written 
secretly to the King of Prussia, he was very indignant, and 
the treaty was broken off; but Russia and France inter- 
vening, there was a peace concluded at Teschen, May 13, 
1779, by which Charles Theodor kept Bavaria, and 
Joseph II. received a strip of land nine hundred miles 
square between the Danube and the Inn, called the 
"Innviertel." 

The War of the Bavarian Succession has been called 
in derision "The Potato War," because Frederick re- 
mained in Bohemia living on the country, without any 
fighting, and the men are said to have spent their time 
roasting potatoes at their watch-fires. 

Soon after this Joseph II. showed signs of wishing to 
conciliate Catharine II., and went to visit her. He 
travelled in the disguise of a courier, riding on before 
his suite, ordering the horses and the accommodations 
for the night. By this means he was enabled to study 
the habits of the country people, dining on their plain 
fare, and living for the most part on sausage and beer. 
In this disguise Joseph did many kind acts. Once he 
offered to stand godfather to a new-born infant in a poor 
hut, and astonished the parents when he came to the 
christening in full state. Another evening he supped 
with an officer who had ten children of his own besides 
an adopted orphan, and only a small pension on which 
to live. After he reached home, they were surprised to 



Death of Maria TJiei'esa. 403 

receive a letter from the Emperor of Austria, endowing 
each of the eleven children with two hundred florins a 
year. 

When Joseph returned from Russia in 1780, he found 
his mother dying. She passed away the 29th of the fol- 
lowing November, in the sixty-fourth year of her age. 
Maria Theresa left nine out of her sixteen children. She 
had been a pious and upright queen, and a good woman ; 
and she died beloved by her people, who still worship her 
memory, 

A few days before her death she had herself lowered 
by ropes and pulleys into the vault where she had spent 
so much time beside the coffin of her beloved husband, 
Francis I. When she was drawn up one of the ropes 
parted, at which the queen exclaimed, " He wishes to keep 
me with him, and I shall soon come." She wrote in her 
prayerbook that she had fulfilled her obligations to the 
church, had tried to do justice to all her subjects, and 
that she had educated her children in the fear of the 
Lord; but she felt that she had sinned in making war 
from motives of pride, and that in her speech she had 
often had too little charity for others. Since the death 
of Maximilian II. there had been no sovereign so wise 
and energetic as Maria Theresa. She sometimes took 
charge of her armies, riding at the head of her troops, 
encouraging her soldiers by her presence to win great 
victories. She left Austria in a state of prosperity such 
as it had not known for many centuries. 

By the death of Maria Theresa, Joseph II. became sole 
monarch of Austria. W^hen Frederick the Great heard of 
her death, he said, ''Maria Theresa is dead; now there 
will be a new order of things." He was wrong, however, 
in believing that Joseph would break away from his 
mother's policy at once. The latter, however, consoli- 



404 Gennaiiy : Her People and Their Sto)y. 

dated Austria into one state, and abolished serfdom, 
thereby offending the Hungarian nobility. He granted 
more rights than were demanded of him, and, desiring 
their advancement, compelled his people to accept such 
privileges when they were not wise enough to understand 
how to use them. He also offended the Hungarians by 
trying to promote the use of the German language in their 
territory. 

Frederick the Great survived Maria Theresa six years. 
These were the most peaceful of a long life which had 
been a witness to many stirring events. He lived to see 
the end of our Revolutionary War, and was the first mon- 
arch to acknowledge the independence of our country. 
He made a treaty with the United States, and as a mark 
of his regard and respect, sent a sword to Washington 
with the inscription, " From the oldest general to the 
greatest. " 

After Joseph II. 's scheme of absorbing Bavaria failed, 
Frederick the Great saw the necessity of a check to the 
growth of the friendship between Austria and Russia, 
which he thought would soon disturb the '^ Balance of 
Power." He then inaugurated the German confederation 
called "The League of Princes." It was a union of the 
smaller German States under Prussia to guarantee the 
security of the Empire. Frederick's minister, Hertzberg, 
showed great diplomatic skill in arranging the terms of 
the league, but in the long period at the time of the 
French Revolution and during Napoleon's wars it became 
practically obsolete. 

Frederick the Great preserved to the last his habits of 
industry in the supervision of his affairs. He walked 
out more and more in the streets of Berlin and Potsdam, 
talking familiarly with any of his people whom he 
chanced to meet. One day in Potsdam he met a boys' 



Frederick's Last Years and Death. 405 

school, and said in a rough way, "Boys, what are you 
doing here ? Be off to your school ! " One of the lead- 
ers answered, "Oh, you are king, are you, and don't 
know that there is no school to-day!" Frederick laughed 
heartily, and instead of applying his cane, gave the boys 
a gold piece, so that they might enjoy their holiday 
better. 

The French philosopher D'Alembert wrote of Frederick, 
"When I spoke to him of the glory which he had ac- 
quired, he answered with the greatest simplicity, ' There 
is an immense discount on said glory. Chance came in 
for almost the whole of it. I would far rather have writ- 
ten Racine's " Athalie" than have performed all the great 
deeds of this war. ' " 

Frederick had been in failing health for many years, 
but he had kept steadily about his work; his interest in 
the nation generally, and his army in particular, had 
never flagged. In August, 1785, he visited Silesia to 
review his troops. On the third day, from four o'clock 
in the morning to ten o'clock at night, it rained in tor- 
rents; but Frederick paid no attention to it, and when in 
the evening he returned to his quarters, he was wet to 
the skin, not having taken the pains to put on his cloak. 
In a feverish condition he went on with his inspection 
of the troops, and drove eighty miles to Brieg. After 
this journey, exhausting for a man in his feeble health, 
the king returned to Potsdam, and went through a series 
of State dinners, balls, and illuminations. The night 
after he awoke with a severe fit of suffocation. But he 
lived through the winter and summer, and the pain and 
languor came and went. He often got out, and rode 
among the ranks of his men, and drilled the various 
corps, saying frequently, "The time left belongs not to 
me, but to the State." On the 15th of August, 1786, after 



4o6 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

a restless night, he did not wake until eleven in the 
morning. He summoned his generals, however, and gave 
his orders as usual. He then called his three clerks, 
and dictated to them. After this he lingered along until 
twenty minutes past two on the morning of the 17th of 
August. For two hours an attendant held the dying king 
in his arms. One of his dogs sat by his bedside shiver- 
ing with cold. Frederick made a sign for them to throw 
a quilt over the dog. After a fit of coughing, the king 
murmured with difficulty, "The mountain is past; we 
shall be better now." These were his last words. Fred- 
erick the Great had reigned forty-six years, and died at 
the age of seventy-four. They paid no attention to a 
clause of his will in which he asked that he might be 
buried at Sans Souci by the side of his dogs, whose 
graves at the end of the terrace are still marked by flat 
stones, on which the name of each is carved. His body 
was placed in a vault under the pulpit of the Garrison 
Church at Potsdam, which also contains the remains of 
his father, Frederick William I., the founder of this 
church. In the room where he died, in the palace of 
Sans Souci, the clock, which is said to have stopped the 
moment he breathed his last, marks "2.20." 

In his will, among other things, he said, *' After having 
raised victorious armies and conquered countries, I have 
restored peace to my kingdom and filled my treasury; 
after having established a good administration through- 
out my dominion, and made my enemies tremble, I resign 
without regret this breath of life to nature." 

Frederick the Great left a kingdom of six million in- 
habitants, an army of two hundred thousand men, and 
a sum of two hundred thousand thalers in the treasury; 
he also left the example of patriotism, of personal duty, 
of order and economy in government, and resistance to 



Frederick's Last Years and Death. 407 

foreign interference. By such an example he had re- 
stored the hopes of his people, and made his country one 
of the great powers of Europe. 

The only extravagance Frederick the Great indulged 
in was his love of building fine edifices. His economy 
with reference to his own person allowed him scarcely 
any clothes. He endured his shabby old garments, with 
the ever-present yellow waistcoat, until there was noth- 
ing left of them, he having had but one fine suit after 
the Seven Years' War. It is even said he was buried 
in a shirt belonging to his valet, as no decent garment 
of the kind could be found in his wardrobe. 

Marie Antoinette wrote of his character as follows: 
"He has done us a great deal of ill. He has been king 
for his own country, but a troubled feast for those about 
him, always assailing his neighbors, and making them pay 
the expense. As daughters of Maria Theresa, it is im- 
possible that we can regret him; nor will the court of 
France give him a funeral oration." Carlyle said of him, 
"He managed not to be a liar and a charlatan as the rest 
of his country was." 

In 1788 a revolution broke out in the Netherlands, 
which involved Hungary and Bohemia. The Netherlands 
had been offended by the innovations of Emperor Joseph ; 
and the instigators stirred up the people, who were al- 
ready excited by the loss of some of their ancient rights. 
This disturbance lasted for nearly two years; and as it 
was about to be put down, Joseph II. suddenly died, at 
the age of forty-nine, February 20, 1790. 

Joseph II. was a man of large views and noble aims. 
He was unwearied in labor for his people, and, like 
Frederick, was accessible to every one. The books of 
Austria and the memory of the people are full of anec- 
dotes about him. At one time he attended a poor sick 



408 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

woman in the character of a physician ; and once, when he 
found a peasant at work, he took his place and ploughed 
around the field. After his death he was appreciated and 
better understood than while living. He had assisted 
Catharine II. in a war against the Turks, in the autumn 
of 1788, hoping for some conquests of his own. 

The idea of driving the Turks out of Europe, and annex- 
ing Constantinople to her Empire, originated with Catha- 
rine II. The Czar Nicholas also said a century later, ''I 
know that I or my successor must have Constantinople. 

Joseph II., at the head of an army of two hundred 
thousand men, marched against Belgrade ; but he was re- 
pelled, and returned to Vienna, with the seeds of a fever 
which proved fatal. He ordered these words to be en- 
graved on his tombstone, " Here lies a prince who, with 
the best intentions, had the misfortune of seeing all his 
plans fail." 

It is said to have taken over a hundred years for Ger- 
many to recover from the demoralizing example of Louis 
XIV., and for the nations to recuperate from the debili- 
tating influence of his long reign, which was felt over the 
whole of the habitable globe. The stern greatness of 
Frederick's character, after so much effeminacy, was like 
a tonic to the German nation, and helped to eradicate the 
germs of decay. Joseph II., too, by his liberalism, pro- 
moted the growth in Austria of those democratic ideas 
which were beginning to permeate, not only the state, but 
the government and feelings of nations everywhere. 

"An Enlightened Despotism" was the goal of every 
sovereign's ambition. The meaning of this was the exer- 
cise of absolute power for the amelioration of the people's 
lot. It finally came to mean that no sovereign could 
maintain despotic power and keep himself at the head of 
a nation. Old ideas and old institutions were being swept 



Progress of Germany. 409 

away in a manner that had never happened before. The 
desire for inalienable rights of which kings had been rob- 
bing the people for centuries became the basis of war. 

Frederick the Great liad built upon the foundation of 
"an enlightened despotism." He illustrated its power by 
his example. It was the support of his government by 
the people of Prussia, and their strong love of country, 
that, through all its wars, had kept it from annihilation. 

But it v/as our own America which was to rise as the 
day-star of freedom Just then she was holding her first 
Congress ; and, by her Constitution, she was to establish 
the political equality of all men and the right of self- 
government. 

It was also the intellectual development of the last half 
of the eighteenth century which had given a great im- 
petus to progress of every kind. Charles Augustus of 
Weimar had called to his court such intellectual giants 
as Goethe and Schiller, Herder and Wieland. They had 
been preceded by Klopstock, Kant, Schelling, and Less- 
ing, and followed by the patriots Korner, Kleist, Arndt, 
and Gleim, two of whom were killed in battle while writ- 
ing patriotic songs. German literature reached its merid- 
ian at the end of the eighteenth century. This also was 
the era of many musical composers, among them Haydn, 
Mozart, and Beethoven, followed by Mendelssohn and 
Wagner. Electricity dated from this period. New ma- 
chinery was invented, manufactures flourished, while 
the crowning achievement of the age was the application 
of steam to locomotion. This "storm and pressure" pe- 
riod, was to the world of thought what the French Rev- 
olution was to the world of politics. This intellectual 
excitement in Germany was simultaneous with stirring 
events in other nations, for the world was beginning to 
feel the agitation that precedes impending upheavals. 



4IO Germany : Ho' People and TJicir Story. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

FREDERICK WILLIAM II. 

RELATION OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION TO GERMANY. 

LEOPOLD II. FRANCIS II. 

THE BEGINNING OF NAPOLEOn's CAREER IN CONNECTION 

WITH GERMANY. 

FREDERICK WILLIAM III. AND QUEEN LOUISE. 

1786 — 1804 A.D. 

THE reign of Frederick William II. would have been 
altogether commonplace but for the tragical events 
occurring elsewhere. 

It seems strange that so great a statesman and able 
a ruler as Frederick the Great should leave to chance the 
welfare of the kingdom he cherished. It looks like great 
neglect on his part that his nephew and recognized suc- 
cessor was not trained to the great work of government. 
It has been said that Frederick, with all his foresight, 
discerned no sign of the coming tempest in France, the 
forerunner of a whirlwind which shook all Europe to its 
foundations ; for at last it had been discovered that, dur- 
ing the centuries when the power of princes had been 
growing great, the rights of the people had been growing 
small, and now they were determined to have these rights. 

When, on the 5th of May, 1789, the Tiers Etats (the 
third class) set up the National Assembly, the key-note 
of the French Revolution, which ended in the Reign of 
Terror, was struck. 

The girl and boy, Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. of 



Frederick William II. 41 1 

France, had already been married four happy years, 
when the old voluptuary, Louis XV., worn out by his 
pleasures, passed away, and they inherited his throne. 
Kneeling, surrounded by their courtiers, they cried out, 
weeping: "O God, guide us! Protect us! We are too 
young to reign ! " Too young they proved, and too in- 
genuous to the end. Their cruel death ushered in the 
Reign of Terror, which sacrificed so many thousands to 
the guillotine, and submerged the streets of Paris in 
blood. There is fire in the Frenchman's veins ; and 
when his blood is excited by oppression or even fancied 
wrongs, the result has always been the dance of death 
to millions. Had the wisest heads ruled the states of 
Germany, and a man of genius been King of France, it 
is not at all probable that the long smouldering spirit of 
insurrection could have been quelled without the shed- 
ing of much blood. 

Neither Leopold II., who was the brother of Joseph II. 
and had just succeeded him, nor Frederick William II. 
of Prussia, understood the full import of the act of the 
National Assembly in disregarding the conditions of the 
Peace of Westphalia, and trying to seize Alsace and 
the west bank of the Upper Rhine. Frederick William 
II. was a weak and dissolute sovereign, who had a sickly 
sentiment which he called a religious belief. He intro- 
duced rigid measures in regard to church worship and 
the freedom of the press, and by interfering in the griev- 
ance of his sister, wife of the Stadtholder of Holland, he 
had managed to squander all the wealth which Frederick 
the Great had husbanded. Frederick William was de- 
termined to maintain the cause of Louis XVI. and abso- 
lutism. At the same time, Leopold II., although he was 
the brother of Marie Antoinette, was anxious at any cost 
to preserve peace with the revolutionists. 



412 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

At the time of the breaking out of the French Revolu- 
tion, many royalists fled from France, and being well 
received by the German rulers, afterwards united with 
foreign armies in an invasion of their own country. 

Emperor Leopold II. and King William II. met in the 
summer of 1791, at Pillnitz, as guests of the Elector of 
Saxony, to consider what steps were to be taken. The 
Count of Artois, brother of Louis XVI., afterwards 
Charles X., joined them, and asked their aid against the 
French Assembly. Leopold, with his usual caution, 
would not bind himself to any course of action, and the 
conflict might have been warded off for some time if the 
French had not precipitated it. The National Assembly 
issued a proclamation that the French emigrants, armed 
against the State, must disperse before March, 1792, or 
France would declare war. On this very day, Emperor 
Leopold died. His son succeeded him as Francis II. 
of Austria, and on July 5 was elected Emperor. The 
conservatism of Leopold would perhaps finally have 
proved a good factor in the government of Austria; but 
his son Francis, though an honest and sincere prince, had 
no ability which fitted him to rule. As a private gentle- 
man, the latter might have been esteemed and honored. 
Unfortunately the two great nations which ought to have 
held France within bounds were governed by pygmies 
instead of giants. 

April 20, 1792, war was declared against Austria on 
charges presented by Louis XVI. himself. The Giron- 
dists still held control of the National Legislative Assem- 
bly. This was the last time, until the year 1796, that 
the controlling element of the Assembly deserved the 
name of a party. All the factions that came after were 
furious fanatics, who slaughtered their victims, and then 
became victims for new fanatics to slaughter. A mob 



Relation of the French Revolution to Germany. 413 

attacked the Tuileries, August 10, 1792, and cut to pieces 
the historical " Swiss Guards," who died so bravely in 
defending the king, Louis XVI. His family were made 
prisoners; and the monarchy then becoming extinct, 
France was declared a republic on September 21, 1792. 

The Girondists soon fell before the Jacobins under 
Danton, Robespierre, and Marat, whose followers now 
ruled the Convention, and sent Louis XVL and his family 
to the guillotine. He was executed January 21, 1793. It 
is said that the proclamations issued about this time by 
Prussia and Leopold II. threatening the Revolution, and 
declaring that no quarter would be given to the enemies 
of Louis XVL, brought the frenzy of the mob to its high- 
est pitch, and hastened the execution of the king. 

The Convention lasted until July, 1795, and then, 
weary of bloodshed, France appointed a "Directory." 

While these stirring events and revolutionary move- 
ments had been going on in Paris, Austria and Prussia 
were holding back; and, although they had raised an 
army, they were keeping outside of the contest as much 
as they could. Francis II. at his father's death made a 
communication to the French diplomatists, in which he 
promised to maintain his father's policy. But before 
the end of March he issued a proclamation, wherein he 
demanded that the old French monarchy should be 
restored. The whole French nation arose with enthusi- 
asm, declaring war against all "the conspirator kings," 
who wished to destroy their liberties. But none of the 
nations were prepared for action. France itself was in 
utter disorder, and Germany was powerless as an Empire ; 
the smaller states united, and asked the enemy to regard 
them as neutral. Nothing was done until July, when the 
Prussians, who had always signified their readiness to 
take up arms in favor of the monarchy, crossed the fron- 



414 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

tier from Luxemburg, agreeing to meet the Austrians, 
who were advancing from the Netherlands and the Upper 
Rhine. Duke Cliarles of Brunswick, the ablest general 
of his time, acted with his usual caution; but, instead of 
advancing, he issued the proclamation to the French, 
which gave the revolutionary party the impression that 
he was communicating with the royal family, and this 
was what hastened the fall of the monarchy and death of 
the king. 

Nothing was done except the taking of Longwy and 
Verdun, on August 23 ; then, finding themselves without 
supplies, and their army rapidly weakening, the allies 
were obliged to retreat to the Rhine. 

The death of Louis XVL and his family aroused all 
Europe; and the First Coalition was formed by England, 
Holland, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Naples, and Spain 
against France. Catharine IL, who wished to carry out 
her designs in Poland, declined to join the Coalition, 
otherwise she would have been glad to crush out France. 

This Coalition did very little in the end, though at 
first they retook some of the territory which the French 
had possession of ; but Francis IL and Frederick Wil- 
liam II. , who were equally vacillating, grew jealous of 
each other, and became less anxious to crush France 
than to increase their own territory by conquests in 
Poland. Already the Coalition was reduced to England, 
Prussia, and Austria; and on the 5th of April, 1795, Fred- 
erick William II. retired from it, and made a treaty with 
France at Basle, giving up Cleves and some Prussian 
Rhine territory to the French. Frederick William did 
this for fear Catharine would absorb all of Poland. 

The enthusiasm of the Revolution was expressed by 
the " MarsciUaise, " the strains of which have ever since 
led the armies of France on to battle. The French sol- 



Partition of Poland. 415 

diers showed such a wild enthusiasm that the troops of 
other nations were in a panic before them. 

In 1793 the Second Partition of Poland between 
Russia and Prussia had taken place, in which Prussia 
received the long-desired cities, Dantzic and Thorn, the 
provinces of Posen, Gnesen, and Kalisch, and other 
territory, amounting to twenty thousand square miles 
and one million inhabitants. The nobility had risen in 
arms because Poland had adopted an hereditary instead 
of an elective monarchy. When Russia undertook to 
hold possession of some of the places, Kosciusko, one of 
the heroes in our war, led four thousand men to resist 
them. They appointed him Dictator in 1794, and made 
every effort to save their country from the impending 
destruction. Frederick William II. marched to Warsaw, 
and met the Russian army there. There was a long 
siege, but nothing decisive happened until General 
Suwarrow arrived and defeated Kosciusko, who was taken 
prisoner. Warsaw was stormed with terrible slaughter, 
and with its fall Poland ceased to exist. Austria had 
taken no part in the contest, but, nevertheless, received 
one-fourth that remained, against the protest of Prussia 
which received Warsaw and twenty thousand additional 
square miles. 

Catharine II., victorious over the Turks, and having 
finished with Poland, now united with Austria and Eng- 
land against France. Russia was to send an army and 
fleets, and Austria agreed to raise two hundred thousand 
men. England contributed four million pounds. The 
opposing armies occupied their respective sides of the 
Rhine. 

The French suddenly crossed the river, taking Diissel- 
dorf and Mannheim, laying waste the country, and treat- 
ing the people inhumanly. The Austrians rallied, and 



41 6 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

repulsed the French, recovering nearly all the western 
bank of the Rhine. As the Austrians were already 
tired of the war, an armistice was arranged in 1796. 
The French, however, found they could still gain advan- 
tages by fighting, since the conquered territory was 
obliged to pay expenses, and they had several ambitious 
generals whom they wished to bring to the front, among 
others Bonaparte and General Moreau, who afterwards 
gained so much credit in his retreat through the Black 
Forest. 

The First Coalition had failed altogether in the object 
it had sought. The campaign of 1796 had been most 
disastrous to Austria, The French now placed five 
armies in the field, two of which were to invade Ger- 
many. A third was to make the attack in Italy, and 
afterwards join the other forces in Austria. One of the 
armies was lying idle near Nice, when the Directory 
ordered Napoleon Bonaparte to take the command, 
March 26, 1796. It was in this campaign that Napoleon 
entered upon his great career as a general, though he 
had already been recognized as a very brilliant officer. 

Napoleon started out with scarcely thirty thousand 
men; but by wonderful military strokes of genius, he 
soon had defeated the Austrians at Piedmontese, and 
forced them to cede Savoy and Nice to France. His 
men were hungry and poorly clad; but he promised them 
Milan in a week, and he kept his word. In this cam- 
paign he is said to have put all the tactics in practice 
which afterwards gave him so much renown. He did 
not wait to capture all the fortresses in his way, accord- 
ing to the old-time method; but he struck the enemy 
wherever he found it, before it had a chance to combine 
its forces. 

Napoleon advanced with great rapidity, and crossed the 



Beginning of Napoleon' s Career in Germany. 417 

Po, then captured the bridge over the Adda at Lodi by 
means of one of his terrible charges. He next subjected 
the Venetian territory, and out of the Italian Duchies 
formed new republican states. According to his prom- 
ise, he took Milan, and overran Lombardy, forcing the 
Pope, as well as Parma, Modena, and Naples, to purchase 
peace with their art treasures. It was at this time that he 
established the custom of despoiling conquered cities in 
order to enrich Paris; as a consequence of which, the 
world-renowned picture gallery of the Louvre was founded. 
Napoleon now crossed the Alps, and met Archduke 
Charles, a very able general, and brother of Francis II. 
The latter had cleared Germany of French troops east of 
the Rhine, and had driven the French general, Jourdain, 
back across that river near Metz, besides compelling 
Moreau to make the famous Black Forest retreat, which, 
bemg accomplished in thirty-seven days, gave him more 
renown than many victories. But Baden, Wiirtemberg, 
Franconia, and Bavaria had fallen into the hands of the 
French, and were made to pay a heavy ransom to their 
conquerors. Frankfort paid ten million, Nuremberg 
three million, Bavaria ten million, besides enormous sup- 
plies to the French troops. Napoleon, undaunted by the 
great reputation and exploits of the archduke, boldly 
attacked him, and forced him to retreat, took Trieste, and 
made his way through the mountains into Styria, encamp- 
ing thirty-six hours from Vienna. If Francis II. had en- 
couraged the already excited patriotism of the people, and 
given them weapons, he perhaps might have cut Napoleon 
off, as there was no way in which the latter could receive 
re-enforcements. But Francis was afraid of a revolution- 
ary movement; therefore he negotiated for peace, which, 
after a summer's discussion, was concluded at Campo 
Formio in October, 1797. 



4i8 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

Francis II. bought peace at the cost of the Empire by 
giving the left bank of the Rhine to France, also the 
Duchy of Milan, the Cis- Alpine Republic, and the 
Netherlands; but he received Venice, Istria, and Dalma- 
tia, the Archbishopric of Salzburg, part of Bavaria, and 
a promise that Prussia should have no accession of terri- 
tory. The French were not satisfied with the left bank 
of the Rhine, but demanded the demolition of the for- 
tresses of Kehl, Mannheim, Cassel, and Ehrenbreitstein; 
and the latter has been dismantled ever since. 

In November, 1797, Frederick William II. died, and 
was succeeded by his son, Frederick William III., who 
reigned until 1840. The latter, though weak, was a much 
better man than his father. He was twenty-seven years of 
age ; endowed with a fine presence and reserved manners, 
he was not lacking in noble aims; but he had no cour- 
age nor executive ability. Having been educated in a 
narrow way, he still clung to his father's old counsellors, 
who had done much to lessen the prestige of Prussia's 
greatness. With the aid of his intelligent and beautiful 
queen, Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, he tried to estab- 
lish a court free from the immoral tendencies of the age; 
but irreproachable as they were in their home life, with 
their promising children about them, they had but little 
influence in keeping up an old-time court simplicity. 

Louise of Mecklenburg is still the idol of her people. 
Dying young, a sacrifice to her deep-felt anxiety for her 
country, she left the sanctity of virtue and youth imprinted 
on the hearts of an adoring nation. She was the mother 
of William I., afterwards the Emperor of a united Father- 
land. The old king, Frederick William II., used to call 
her " the Princess of Princesses." Goethe and Jean Paul 
did homage to her beauty and character in verse, and it 
was only Napoleon who dared to treat her with incivility. 



Second Coalition against France. 419 

She died in 1810, just after returning from her family in 
Konigsberg, whither she had fled before Napoleon. 

William III. revoked the Edict of WoUner controlling 
church services. He began by introducing economy, 
and trying to improve the financial condition of the 
state; he was also desirous of promoting science, art, 
and the education of the people. He built the monu- 
mental Brandenburg Gate, and opened public roads 
throughout the country. Though the army was two hun- 
dred thousand strong, yet under his inefficient prede- 
cessor it had fallen into a deplorable condition. Though 
it had been drilled in a pedantic fashion, it had never 
been subjected to any experience in battle. 

The illusion of the German Empire was still kept up, 
and a Congress of all the states was called at Rastatt 
to confirm the treaty of Campo Formio. Early in 1799 
a Second Coalition against France was formed between 
England, Russia, Austria, Naples, and Spain; but Prus- 
sia did not join it. 

The end of 1799 brought great changes to France, 
which was now the ruling power on the Continent. 
Prussia observed a timid neutrality; Austria was power- 
less; the new republics in Holland, Switzerland, and 
Italy were wholly given up to French influence ; while 
Spain, Denmark, and Russia were friendly to the latter. 
Therefore, after the overthrow of Pitt's ministry, in 1802, 
England likewise made peace with Bonaparte. 

Bonaparte now returned from Egypt, and established a 
consulate in place of the Directory, November 10 (i8th 
Brumaire), making himself First Consul and practically 
Dictator. He proposed peace to the Coalition on the 
basis of the Treaty of Campo Formio, but this was re- 
jected by England and Austria. 

This was the year Frederick William III. ascended 



420 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

the throne. The Bonapartist policy was to keep Prussia 
neutral; and, as England only took part by contribution, 
France had to meet Austria alone in the field. In May, 
Napoleon led sixty thousand men across the Great St. 
Bernard into Lombardy. Archduke Charles, hampered 
by the Court of Vienna, resigned; and Archduke John, a 
boy of nineteen years, took charge of an army of one 
hundred thousand men, who were scattered in a line 
from the Alps to Frankfort. Moreau soon defeated him, 
and overran Baden and Wiirtemberg. 

Genoa surrendered to the Austnans; but when the 
latter undertook to turn Napoleon back, they were cut to 
pieces at Marengo, on the r4th of June, 1800. After an 
armistice had expired which had been made with Fran- 
cis II., Moreau attacked the Austrian army of ninety 
thousand men on the river Inn, and on the 3d of 
December the French were completely victorious at 
Hohenlinden. The dreadful battle was fought in a thick 
snowstorm, so that the soldiers on either side could only 
see the flash of the muskets of the enemy. 

" And redder yet those fires shall glow 
On Linden's hills of blood-stained snow, 
And darker yet shall be the flow 
Of Iser rolling rapidly. 

" Ah, few shall part where many meet ! 
The snow shall be their winding-sheet, 
And every turf beneath their feet 
Shall be a soldier's sepulchre." 

This victory enabled Napoleon to invade the very 
centre of Austria. He secured the friendship of the 
fickle Russian, Paul I. ; and Austria was forced to accept 
terms of peace, February 9, 1801, on the basis of the 
Treaty of Campo Formio. The Adige was made the 
boundary of Austria and Italy; the Rhine that of France 



Partitioit of the Empire. 421 

and Germany. Germany lost twenty-four thousand 
square miles and three million five hundred thousand 
inhabitants. 

In 1801 Paul L was assassinated, and Alexander I. 
ascended the throne of Russia. England, Russia, and 
Austria united, determined to cripple Napoleon's power; 
and it was hoped that Prussia would also join the 
alliance. Emperor Alexander tried to induce Frederick 
William III., both by threats and by persuasion, to 
permit the Russian army to pass through his country ; 
but the king, hoping to obtain Hanover, resisted every 
attempt to violate Prussia's neutrality; he even sent 
an army to prevent the Russian troops from crossing 
Prussian territory. 

On the 27th of April, 1803, a partition of the Empire 
was decreed. There were only six free cities left out of 
fifty-two. Baden was increased to double its size, the 
most of Franconia, with Wiirzburg and Bamberg, was 
added to Bavaria. Baden, Wiirtemberg, Hesse-Cassel, 
and Salzburg had the dignity of "Electors;" but they 
were never called upon to elect another Emperor. The 
extinction of such a number of petty states, the over- 
throw of priestly rule, and the abolition of the privileges 
of a thousand imperial noble families, was in the end 
a great gain for the country. By this partition Bona- 
parte, though his motives were selfish, conferred a great 
benefit upon Germany, and gave the Protestants the pre- 
ponderance. 



422 Gen7iany : Her People and Their Story 



CHAPTER XLII. 

NAPOLEON AS EMPEROR. — AUSTERLITZ. RHENISH CON- 
FEDERATION. — Alexander's professed friendship 

FOR PRUSSIA. FALL OF THE HOLY ROMAN GERMAN 

empire. JENA AND EYLAU. 

1804—1807 A.D. 

ON May i8, 1804, Napoleon was proclaimed Emperor 
of the French. The Pope came to Paris, blessed 
the crown, which was made hereditary by a popular vote, 
and Napoleon placed it upon his own head. The Italian 
republic became the kingdom of Italy; and Napoleon as- 
sumed the "Iron Crown of Lombardy," May 26, 1804. 
He made his stepson, Eugene Beauharnais, Viceroy of 
Italy, an act displeasing to all the powers. On the nth 
of August, 1804, in order to preserve his title against 
changes he saw would soon take place, Francis II. imi- 
tated Napoleon's example, and took the title Emperor 
of Austria. 

In the summer of 1805 a third Coalition was formed 
by England, Austria, Russia, and Sweden for the purpose 
of putting down Napoleon. Frederick William III. of 
Prussia and his ministers refused to listen to the spirited 
Queen Louise, who urged them to join the Coalition. 
They clung to their policy of neutrality, and for a long 
time it was their attitude that decided the success of 
Napoleon. 

Napoleon had collected an army of two hundred thou- 
sand men for the invasion of England by sea; but learn- 



Napoleon as Emperor. 423 

ing the secret of the allies, he abandoned this project. 
On the 30th of November, Napoleon's generals entered 
Vienna, and Francis II. fled with his family to Pres- 
burg. Napoleon hastened on as far as the battlefield of 
Austerlitz and halted. Here he gave battle to the Rus- 
sians, December 2, 1805. This was called the "Battle of 
the Three Emperors. " He completely defeated the enemy ; 
the allies losing fifteen thousand killed and wounded, 
twenty thousand prisoners, and two hundred cannon. A 
few days after, Francis II. met Napoleon in a small hut, 
and had a very humiliating conference with him. There 
they decided on a treaty of peace, which was signed at 
Presburg, December 26. This interview made Francis 
Napoleon's bitter enemy for life. He was compelled to 
acknowledge the Dukes of Wiirtemberg and Bavaria as 
kings, and to assent to the establishment of a Germanic 
Confederation under the protection of Napoleon. The 
treaty cost the House of Hapsburg twenty thousand square 
miles and two and a half millions of people, and Francis 
II. was obliged to pay one hundred million francs to 
France. In July the " Confederation of the Rhine " com- 
posed seventeen states; and this formed a third power 
in Germany, independent of Austria and Prussia. 

On the 6th of August, 1806, Francis II. laid down the 
title of " Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the Ger- 
man Nation," which had lasted since the time of Charle- 
magne. The climax of its greatness was in the time of 
the Hohenstaufen, and it really perished in the Thirty 
Years' War. George III. of England declared that the 
abdication of Francis was impossible, and that as for 
himself, he must regard the Empire and Emperor as still 
existing; but neither again ever showed signs of life. 

The neutrality of Prussia had been violated by Napo- * 
Icon's general, Bernadotte, who had passed through the 



424 Gerniajiy : Her People and TJieir Story. 

country, and the offended king almost resolved to join 
the Coalition. Alexander I. visited Berlin, and formed 
an intimate friendship with William III. and Queen 
Louise. He came for the purpose of promising his sup- 
port to confirm the alliance, and joined hands with the 
king and queen over the tomb of Frederick the Great 
at midnight. Before the battle of Austerlitz, Frederick 
William III. had sent his minister, Haugwitz, to propose 
a treaty with Napoleon, according to which either the 
French would leave Germany, or Frederick William would 
join the Coalition with one hundred and eighty thou- 
sand men. 

Archduke John was approaching Styria and the Tyrol 
from Italy; the Russians were before him; the French 
fleet had just been destroyed by Nelson at Trafalgar; the 
British had landed in Hanover, and the people of that 
nation were joining with their forces. Although the sit- 
uation was critical, Napoleon, as usual, was equal to the 
emergency. He gained time with Prussia by referring 
Haugwitz to his minister Talleyrand at Vienna, and then 
drew the allies on. After the battle of Austerlitz he 
made a treaty with Prussia by which she was to receive 
Hanover by giving up Anspach and Bayreuth. 

At about this time Napoleon began to give away 
kingdoms. He made his brother Joseph King of Na- 
ples in 1806, and his brother Louis King of Holland. 
He had already made his stepson Viceroy of Italy, and 
had given his brother-in-law Murat, Julich and Cleves. 
Afterwards he created the kingdom of Westphalia from 
Brunswick, a part of Prussia, and a part of Hanover, 
giving it to his brother Jerome. This kingdom after- 
wards went to pieces, and the parts of it resumed their 
original position. Napoleon also married the niece of 
Josephine to the son of the Grand-Duke of Baden. 



Rhenish Confederation. 42 5 

Napoleon was full of double dealing in his treatment 
of Prussia; and while he was urging Frederick William 
III. to assume the imperial crown, he was trying to in- 
duce the smaller princes to keep aloof from the latter; 
at the same time he was negotiating to give back Han- 
over to England, and to cede Prussia and Poland to 
Russia. The British cabinet informed the authorities 
at Berlin of this act. 

Then Frederick William decided upon war. Queen 
Louise had long been urging Prussia to bestir herself, 
to resist Napoleon and his despotic power. The pat- 
riots of Germany and the officers of the army who had 
been in sympathy with her, were so pleased at the pros- 
pect of meeting the foe that they whetted their knives on 
the steps of the French Embassy at Berlin. 

But when Prussia finally took the decisive step, she 
was most unfit for the struggle. Napoleon, with his usual 
despatch, was on the march with an army of two hundred 
thousand men before Prussia was properly organized. 
The latter could gain no assistance except from Saxony 
and Weimar. A final declaration of war was made Octo- 
ber 7. The Prussian troops were commanded by Prince 
Hohenlohe and the Duke of Brunswick. After some 
delay, half of the army under the former encamped at 
Weimar. The Prussians were sleeping soundly in their 
camps on the morning of October 14, 1806, when aroused 
by Napoleon's fire. They could not see the enemy, and 
in every particular were powerless to resist; accordingly 
" Jena's bloody battle " proved to be a disastrous rout to 
the Prussians, who fled in wild confusion. On the same 
morning the main army of the Duke of Brunswick fell in 
with the French corps under Davoust at Auerstadt, only 
twelve miles from Jena. Frederick William's troops, being 
under bad discipline, were defeated. The Duke of Bruns- 



426 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

wick was mortally wounded. Queen Louise was in her 
carriage within sound of the guns, and was obliged to 
drive away without knowing whether her husband was 
safe. He escaped uninjured, but twenty thousand men 
lay dead on the iield. General Bliicher, with the sur- 
vivers, roamed about the country for three weeks ; but 
finally he was obliged to surrender. The Duke of Bruns- 
wick rallied for a time, but was quite blind from his 
dangerous wound. He addressed a communication to 
Napoleon, asking to remain undisturbed in the posses- 
sion of his duchy. Napoleon replied that he recognized 
no Duchy of Brunswick and no duke of that name. He 
gave him liberty to retire to England, and forced him to 
be moved. He was transported as far as Altona, where he 
died. His son, who fell at Waterloo, raised a regiment 
in his memory, and had the soldiers dressed in mourning 
with a skull and cross-bones as their badge; and these 
Black Brunswickers made it their business to fight the 
French wherever they could be found. This last Duke 
of Brunswick was the only prince who was ready in 
Prussia's sorest need. 

Napoleon entered Berlin October 27, took down from 
the Brandenburg Gate the triumphal chariot (now re- 
stored), and sent it, with the sword of Frederick the 
Great, as a trophy to Paris. 

The king, and queen fled to Konigsberg, and Fred- 
erick William was so humiliated and in such despair 
that he is said to have consented to become a member 
of the Rhenish Confederation. On November 8, Mag- 
deburg surrendered. Stettin yielded October 29, Kiistrin 
fell November i, as did also the fortresses of Hameln 
and Nienburg near Hanover. 

On hearing of the misfortunes of Prussia, the Em- 
peror of Russia sent the king assurances of friendship 



Fall of the Holy Roman German Empire. 427 

and assistance. On the 8th of February, 1807, the Rus- 
sians joined with the Prussian army, and attacked Napo- 
leon at Eylau. The battle was fierce and bloody, and 
the Prussians won the victory. This was the first time 
Napoleon considered them a nation worthy of being rec- 
ognized, but he still continued to subject them. After 
this Dantzic made an obstinate defence. Although Si- 
lesia showed a vigorous patriotism, she was obliged to 
surrender the fortresses of Glogau, Brieg, Breslau, and 
Schweidnitz ; but the little fortresses of Kosel and Glatz 
held out to the end of the war. 

In the spring of 1807 Alexander of Russia came to 
Konigsberg, whither Frederick William III. had fled. 
Full of zeal, he made a great sensation by his show of 
affection for the king; which, in view of his subsequent 
behavior, was an ill-timed enthusiasm. At a review of 
troops he embraced Frederick William, and said, with 
tears in his eyes, that neither of them should fall alone. 
He then made a new treaty of alliance with Prussia 
against Napoleon, each monarch pledging himself not to 
make peace without the other, and to carry on war until 
Prussia had gained what it had lost. 



428 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

FRIEDLAND. ALEXANDER'S DISLOYALTY TO PRUSSIA. — 

TREATY OF TILSIT, AND NAPOLEON's INTERVIEW WITH 

QUEEN LOUISE. REVOLT OF TYROLEAN PEASANTS, AND 

SCHILL's HEROISM. STEIN, SCHARNHORST, BLUCHER. 

DEATH OF QUEEN LOUISE. WAGRAM. PEACE OF 

VIENNA. PRUSSIA ALMOST BLOTTED OUT. 

1807—1813 A.D. 

THERE was a truce of several months with Napoleon. 
But after it had expired, and Frederick William 
had appointed a new ministry, with Hardenberg at its 
head, another alliance was formed, taking in England 
and Sweden. Then hostilities commenced. 

On the 14th of June the allies were defeated by Napo- 
leon at Friedland, and driven into Russian territory ; but 
since there was some hope that Austria might join the 
Coalition, and England and Sweden were starting a project 
of helping Bliicher land in Pomerania, all would not have 
been lost had not Napoleon won over Alexander. A tent 
having been put up on a raft in the river Memel, which 
was neutral ground, there the two Emperors met. After- 
wards Frederick William was called to an interview with 
the two sovereigns, where Napoleon treated the king 
insultingly. The supple nature of Alexander was so fas- 
cinated by Napoleon, that he forgot that he had drawn 
Frederick William into the war by promising to support 
him, although it was not quite two years since he had 
made his secret treaty with the latter. 



Napoleon'' s Ijitcrviezv zvith Queen Louise. 429 

The next day there was a conference at Tilsit, where 
a treaty was made. Queen Louise came from Memel to 
meet Napoleon ; for it was thought that an interview with 
the beautiful queen might induce him to be less merciless 
in his terms, since he had expressed the wish to see her. 
Accompanied by a brilliant corte'ge^ he dismounted from 
his splendid Arab horse with his little riding-whip in his 
hand. The queen received him with her customary tact 
and peculiar grace, regretting that he should be incon- 
venienced by meeting her in quarters so humble. He 
replied, '' With such an end in view one is not deterred 
by any obstacles." She told him that she trusted his 
health had not suffered from the northern winter ; and 
then she frankly expressed what was on her mind, saying 
she hoped he would find it in his heart to make better 
terms of peace for them. Napoleon answered, " But how 
could you have the idea to begin a war with me? " She 
replied, " It was natural that the fame of our great Fred- 
erick should deceive us as to our strength, if indeed we 
have been deceived." He then asked her to dine with 
him. When, after the interview of fifteen minutes, Napo- 
leon appeared moved, Talleyrand, who had been present, 
said, " Sire, shall posterity learn that your Majesty was 
persuaded by a handsome queen to relax your hold on 
one of your greatest conquests?" 

When Queen Louise reached the residence of Napo- 
leon, he received her at her carriage door, and placed her 
at his right at dinner, while Alexander and Frederick 
William were at his left. At the table he was rather con- 
temptuous, especially to Frederick William. On leaving, 
the queen told him " she regretted that she had been able 
to see the all-conquering soldier without meeting the mag- 
nanimous hero." He then broke a rose from a bush stand- 
ing near the window, and presented it to her. Accepting 



430 Ga'maiiy : Her People and Their Story. 

it hesitatingly, she said, "With Magdeburg?" He re- 
plied, "No. It is I who give, you who take; I am as 
waxed cloth to rain." When the interview was over, he 
said to Talleyrand, "Magdeburg is worth more to me 
than a hundred queens." But afterwards, at St. Helena, 
when there was no wily Talleyrand to extinguish the little 
spark of generosity in his soul, he said, " In spite of my 
skill, in those interviews she always maintained the upper 
hand ; she did it with such grace and sweetness that one 
could not be displeased with her." It was before this 
that Napoleon had mentioned Queen Louise slightingly 
in a war bulletin, and spoken of her on a state occasion 
in a disrespectful manner. He knew that she had done 
all she could to lessen his influence in Prussia, and he 
could not bear to think a woman's voice was potent in 
the affairs of a kingdom which he desired and intended 
to govern. 

When the king and queen, with their children, were 
returning from Memel, after their trying interview with 
Napoleon, William, afterwards King of Prussia, and later 
Emperor of the new Germany, wove some corn-flowers 
into a wreath, and presented it to his mother. Queen 
Louise placed it upon the boy's head, saying despairingly, 
" There, my dear child, that, I fear, is all the crown you 
will ever wear." Because of this, the corn-flower has been 
considered by the nation old Emperor William's flower. 
It was in this same trying year that Queen Louise spoke 
these words ever memorable to the nation : " Mcine Hoff- 
nung ruht auf der Verbindung alles dessen was den deutschen 
Nameii frdgt" (My hope lies in the union of all which 
bears the German name). 

The Treaty of Tilsit, which was signed July 7, 1807, 
took away half of Prussia's territory and half of her popu- 
lation. It included all the country between the Rhine 




{From the fiainthig by Steffeck. The older boy, on the right, ivas aftertvurcis 
King Frederick Wii/iniii II'. ; the boy on the left the Eiiif>eror M'illiav! 1 .) 



Napoleon ' s Rule over Prussia. 43 1 

and the Elbe, and all the land taken from Poland since 
1772, forming the Duchy of Warsaw and Dantzic. Prus- 
sia was obliged to recognize the three brothers of Napo- 
leon as kings, and also to join the Continental System. 
This " Continental Blockade," as it was called, cut off the 
trade between the entire Continent and England, and or- 
dered that all the merchandise of England and her colo- 
nies should be seized and confiscated wherever found, and 
even that the ships which touched at English ports should 
be taken. The design was to injure England ; but it also 
injured France, as well as other countries which profited 
by English and French trade. This, too, was one of the 
leading causes of Napoleon's downfall, and it was also 
one of the immediate sources of the war of 1812 between 
America and England. 

Another stipulation to which Prussia was obliged to as- 
sent was to keep up an army of only forty thousand men. 
She also agreed that the French should retain all her 
provinces and fortresses until the full payment of the 
war indemnity, which amounted to one hundred and forty 
million francs ; until this was done Prussia had to main- 
tain upon her territory one hundred and fifty thousand 
French troops. Napoleon also had possession of all the 
military roads. The French Emperor declared that he 
had left the remaining territory to Prussia out of con- 
sideration for Alexander I., though in fact his object was 
to keep up a barrier between Russia and France. At the 
Treaty of Tilsit, Napoleon's seven years' rule over Prussia 
began. 

After the treaty was completed. Napoleon invited Alex- 
ander I. to meet him at what was called the Congress of 
Erfurt, which lasted from September 27 to October 18. 
From 1806 to 18 13 Erfurt was French territory. Here 
Napoleon held a court at which all his vassal sovereigns 



432 Germany : Her People and Their Stojy. 

and princes were present. There were four kings besides 
Alexander, twenty-seven princes, two grand-dukes, seven 
dukes, besides counts, marshals, generals, barons, states- 
men, poets, and distinguished artists without number. At 
th.G. fetes Napoleon appeared in great glory. The French 
theatre was brought from Paris with Talma, who had been 
the companion of Napoleon in his early days. Napoleon 
received his old friend, and said, " My dear comrade, you 
shall now play with only kings for your audience." 

Frederick William now began to see that this state of 
vassalage could not last. He therefore called Stein to 
the head of his ministry, and encouraged him to introduce 
reforms for the purpose of strengthening the government 
and developing the character of the people. Although 
Napoleon had restricted the standing army to the number 
of forty-two thousand men, Stein, with Scharnhorst as 
minister of war, kept up a constant drill exercise ; and as 
fast as this quota was instructed in the modern science 
of war, they were sent to their homes, and forty-two 
thousand more men were enlisted as the regular army. 
They kept this up until they had at least one hundred and 
fifty thousand trained men, some say over two hundred 
thousand. In this way they sustained in reality a large 
standing army; and all the old, superannuated methods, 
which had stood in the way of Prussia's success, were 
replaced by the latest war tactics. 

Stein was valiant and patriotic, and regarded Napo- 
leon as the embodiment of all that is evil. At first 
Frederick William rejected the warnings of Stein, since 
the latter had always been personally repugnant to the 
king on account of his straightforwardness and strength 
of character, Hardenberg being much more in harmony 
with his feelings. In his extremity, however, Frederick 
William III. learned to honor and trust him, and to en- 



Stem, Scharjihorst. 43 3 

courage his spirit of reform. Stein saw that there could 
be no rescue for the nation from its abject humiliation 
until the people were morally built up. He freed the 
serfs from the bondage of their masters, and they soon 
began to feel that they might become petty landowners 
themselves. Every man could now choose the calling for 
which he was best adapted; and any tradesman, if he was 
rich enough, might buy a baronial estate. Stein even 
tried to secure a share in public affairs to the people, and 
to create independence in small communities. 

This reconstruction really accomplished more for Prussia 
than the French Revolution had done for France. Stein's 
administration was cut short by the jealousy of Napoleon, 
who intercepted a letter in which he claimed there was evi- 
dence that Stein was engendering disorder in the state. 
Napoleon confiscated his property, and called upon his 
troops to arrest a ''man named Stein," who was foment- 
ing discord in the commonwealth. No one doubted that 
Frederick William would have been obliged to deliver 
Stein up ; but the latter fled to Austria, where he re- 
mained until the Russian war of 1812, after which he 
was of great service in the diplomatic arrangements 
between the different nations and the German states. 

On the 8th of September, 1808, Frederick William, 
when he was at the court at Erfurt had, without the 
knowledge of Stein, signed a treaty granting everything 
that Napoleon claimed, and making what was left of Prus- 
sia tributary to France. The German states had now 
all joined the Confederation of the Rhine, and their 
Diet was governed by Napoleon's will. All the princes 
and nobles, officials and authors, vied with each other in 
doing homage to his power. The defeats of Jena and 
Friedland were celebrated by festivals in the capitals of 
other states. Ninety German authors in the Confedera- 



434 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

tion dedicated books to Napoleon, and the newspapers 
were slavish in his praise. As early as 1806 a bookseller 
of Nuremberg, by the name of Palm, was thought to 
have published a pamphlet entitled "Germany in its 
Deep Humiliation." He was seized by Napoleon's order, 
tried by court-martial, and shot. It was afterwards proved 
that Palm was not implicated in the publication of the 
book, and that he did not even know what the volume 
contained. This act was considered as nothing less than 
murder, but it showed to what extent the Germans were 
Napoleon's slaves. 

Although Napoleon was at the beginning of the pros- 
perity which lasted more than seven years, underneath all 
his power a reaction commenced when he exercised such 
tyranny over Spain. He had invaded the Spanish penin- 
sula under the pretence of guarding the coast against 
England. He entered Lisbon with his army, and de- 
clared that the house of Braganza had ceased to reign. 
His forces then advanced beyond Madrid, and in dissen- 
sions between Charles IV. and his son Ferdinand, Napo- 
leon caused himself to be chosen arbiter; when he lured 
the two contestants to Bayonne, he set them both aside, 
and gave the crown of Spain to his brother Joseph. At 
the same time he bestowed the throne of Naples, made 
vacant by Joseph's promotion, upon his brother-in-law 
Murat. All of this constituted one of the most high- 
handed proceedings in which Napoleon ever took part. 
It roused the Spanish people to revolt. Wellington came 
over from England with a large British force, and helped 
the leaders of the rebellion in Portugal; but Napoleon, 
with an overwhelming army, established his brother at 
Madrid, December 2, 1808. The Spanish people, never- 
theless, ever after were at enmity with the despot, and 
kept up a continual guerilla warfare. 



Revolt of Tyrolean Peasants. 435 

Napoleon was called away from Spain by an uprising 
in Austria; for that power had never been satisfied with 
the result of the battle of Austerlitz, and had always 
been resolved to recover her lost territory. Therefore, 
while Napoleon was occupied in Spain, Austria had raised 
half a million soldiers under the command of Archduke 
Charles. The people of Tyrol at the the same time, in 
1809, renounced their allegiance to French rule. The 
leaders were Andreas Hofer and a monk named Has- 
pinger; their troops were peasants who lived in the moun- 
tains. Planting themselves upon the ragged heights, as 
the Bavarian troops entered the mountain passes they 
picked them off with their rifles, or crushed them by roll- 
ing rocks upon them. Hofer captured Innsbruck for 
Austria; and the people all over the country were so 
aroused by the daring of the Tyrolese, that they came 
forward as volunteers, until Archduke Charles had a 
force of three hundred thousand men. The fate of this 
brave Tyrolean peasant was very sad. Like all revolu- 
tionary leaders, he did not know when to stop. He con- 
tinued to struggle, with some success, after the conclusion 
of the peace between Napoleon and Francis H. But 
after the movement was crushed, he hid in the mountains 
for two months, until he was betrayed by a monk, who 
had supplied him with food. He was carried in chains 
to Mantua, where, after being treated inhumanly, he was 
tried by a French court-martial, and shot on the 20th of 
February, 18 10. Although he had given his life for his 
country and king, Francis made no effort to save him. 

This movement in the Tyrol was imitated in Prussia 
by Major Schill, whose heroism had gained him great in- 
fluence with the people, whom he incited to revolt. The 
secret association, called Tugendbund, or "League of 
Virtue," was behind him, and helped him on. He was 



436 Get'inany : Her People and TJieir Story. 

received with such enthusiasm in Berlin, after Hofer's 
success, that he thought he was going to arouse the whole 
state. He spoke to them with wild enthusiasm, reveal- 
ing to them his plans, and inspiring them with his spirit. 
He took Halle, and was victorious in several small bat- 
tles against the French, but finally was obliged to retreat 
to Stralsund, where he fell at the storming of the city. 
But his fame and great sacrifice helped to fire the Ger- 
man heart. 

On the 13th of May, Napoleon entered Vienna, and 
quartered at Maria Theresa's palace of Schonbrunn. 
Archduke Charles, with an army of seventy-five thousand 
men, met Napoleon with ninety thousand. On the 21st 
a desperate battle was fought at Aspern, in which the 
French were defeated, and were obliged to retire to the 
island of Lobau, the bridge which Napoleon had thrown 
across the Danube being destroyed. Notwithstanding his 
defeat, as was his custom. Napoleon issued flaming bul- 
letins of victory. This deceived the German people, and 
enabled him to forward troops with greater effect. He 
constructed six bridges farther down the Danube, crossed 
with his whole army on July 6, and fought the successful 
battle of Wagram, in which the Austrians were completely 
vanquished, and obliged to retreat. 

Napoleon kept up his residence in Schonbrunn from 
May 21 until after the Peace of Vienna, which was 
signed October 14, 1807. His old quarrel with Pope 
Pius Vn. was brought to an end while he was here. 
The Pope would not accede to his Continental System, 
neither would he declare a divorce in favor of Jerome 
Bonaparte against the American girl Miss Patterson, 
whom Jerome had married without his brother's consent. 
Napoleon seized all the ports on the Adriatic, and incor- 
porated the entire Papal territory into the French Em- 



Peace of Vienna. 437 

pire, fortifying the city of Rome with a body of French. 
The Pope put Napoleon under the ban, whereupon the 
latter, sending a military force to the Quirinal Palace, 
where the Pontiff then resided, had him arrested and 
conveyed to Grenoble as a prisoner. He then made 
Rome a part of the French Empire, declaring the Pope's 
sovereignty at an end, afterwards removing him to the 
chateau of Fontainebleau, where he remained a prisoner 
until Napoleon's downfall. History has given Pius VH. 
a high place, both on account of his persevering re- 
sistance to Napoleon, and his clemency and toleration 
toward those outside the Church. 

There was really no necessity for submission on the 
part of Austria ; since she still had large resources, and 
might have allied herself with Prussia. But the peace 
party had the upper hand ; and Emperor Francis, becom- 
ing frightened because Napoleon threatened to depose 
him, signed the treaty. By the Peace of Vienna, Aus- 
tria gave up the whole Adriatic coast and a part of 
Carinthia. She received only Istria, Dalmatia, Friaul, 
and gave Western Galicia as an addition to the Duchy 
of Warsaw. To satisfy Emperor Alexander, Austria had 
to give Eastern Galicia to Russia. Napoleon also de- 
manded the daughter of Francis, Maria Louisa, for his 
wife ; for he had meanwhile been divorced from the 
Empress Josephine, on the 14th of December, i8og, in 
order to further his ambitious plans. He was married to 
Maria Louise, April 2, 1810. 

In these days of misfortune, Prussia improved by her 
deep humiliation in intellectual and military growth. 
Men of learning and experience did honor to this period, 
in the foremost ranks of whom was John Gottlieb Fichte. 
He was the son of a weaver, and his character was 
strengthened in his early years by extreme poverty. He 



43 8 Gcfniaiiy : Her People and TJieir Story. 

was a follower of Kant, and stimulated the minds of the 
students to activity. Spies were sent out against him 
by Napoleon after the battle of Jena, and were present 
while he delivered in the academy at Berlin his "Words 
to the German Nation," a series of fourteen lectures, 
to a company of select scholars, whom he declared to be 
representatives of the whole German nation. He pointed 
out to them that only German people had preserved the 
embers of a free intellectual life, and that should these 
be lost, there would be no hope for the world. 

In the war department, General David Scharnhorst was 
to the army what Stein was to the state. He was a peas- 
ant's son, and from his boyhood was inclined to a martial 
career. At an early age he distinguished himself in the 
Hanoverian army in the Netherlands, and, as a result of 
his writings on the art of war, was invited to the military 
academy at Berlin as a teacher, and from the first en- 
joyed the confidence of the king. He was cool and sound 
in judgment, and devoted to all that was good and great. 

Bliicher, born in Mecklenburg in 1742, was one of the 
true heroes who was always in sympathy in the move- 
ment of disciplining the people, and hardening them 
against the emergencies which all statesmen of foresight 
saw would inevitably occur. He fought in the Swedish 
army in the Seven Years' War, and was ever after zealous 
in the Prussian cause. By some deed of rashness, while 
he was an officer in Poland, he got into trouble with 
Frederick the Great, and was removed. But in the time 
of Frederick William II. he entered the army again, and 
fought in the French Revolution, winning the respect of 
the foe. The French soldiers called him the " Red 
King." He was general of cavalry at Auerstadt, and 
conceived such a hatred of Napoleon that it sometimes 
amounted almost to madness, so that he would dash at 



Death of Queen Louise. 439 

the flies on the wall and cry, " Napoleon ! Napoleon ! " 
He was called "Marshal Forwards," because in the 
Siles^ian battle in which he defeated Marshal Macdonald 
he kept shouting to his men in the crisis of the conflict, 
"Forwards! forwards!" Napoleon said he was like a 
bull rushing on to danger with his eyes shut. After 
Louis XVIII. was placed on the throne, and Bliicher 
went over to England with the "three Emperors, " the 
English were so enthusiastic over him that they are said 
to have pulled the hairs out of his horse's tail as relics. 

For two years after the Treaty of Tilsit, the royal 
family set the people a beautiful example in a serious, 
earnest, and religious course of life, which exercised a 
great influence for good. They lived almost as private 
citizens at Konigsberg, and only returned to Berlin two 
days before Christmas, 1809. They were already in deep 
affliction, for the idolized Queen Louise was fast passing 
away. On July 19, 1810, she died at her early home in 
Mecklenburg. Just before her death she wrote to her 
father, " I hope my children will devote their lives to the 
deliverance of their country." She also said to her two 
boys, afterwards Frederick William IV. and Emperor 
William I., "The Prussian state, the Prussian army, the 
glory of Prussia, have disappeared. Weep, in memory of 
me, the downfall of our Fatherland. But weeping is not 
enough. Act! Conquer back from France the darkened 
glory of your great ancestors! Be men! be heroes ! " 

Louis, King of Holland, father of Napoleon HI., was 
a good king; but he found the interests of his people so 
much injured by the narrow French policy, that he gave 
it only a lukewarm support ; and when Napoleon sent an 
army to occupy the Dutch ports, he resigned. Thereupon 
Napoleon annexed Holland to the French Empire, declar- 
ing that it was his by right, since it had been formed by 



440 Gcrviaity : Her People and Their Story. 

the alluvial deposits of French rivers (the Rhine and the 
Maas). 

In 1811 Napoleon was at the height of his power. All 
Germany had accepted the Continental Blockade as pro- 
tection to the German Confederation, and he now held all 
the German states in subjection. His Empire extended 
from Denmark to Naples, while Austria and Prussia were 
reduced to one-fourth of their strength. Sweden seemed 
sure to be Napoleon's ally, since his relative and gene- 
ral, Marshal Bernadotte, had been adopted in 18 10 by 
Charles XIII. of Sweden as Crown Prince. Yet it soon 
became apparent that Napoleon's fortune was unsubstan- 
tial, and that the lustre of his renown was passing away. 
Already the French were sated with the glory which had 
ruined their trade, wasted their substance, and spilled 
the blood of their sons. 



TJie Russian Campaign. 441 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

THE RUSSIAN CAMPAIGN. WAR OF LIBERATION. 

1812—1813 A.D. 

A LEXANDER of Russia had by this time lost the efifer- 
±\. vescence of his regard for Napoleon. He had seen, 
while visiting the Emperor at Erfurt, that the friendship 
of the latter was of little value to him; because he recog- 
nized the fact that he could not make himself subservient 
to Napoleon by putting into practice the terms of the 
Continental System. Napoleon had also exhibited his 
arrogance in dethroning Alexander's relation, the Duke 
of Oldenburg; and there had been trouble also when 
Alexander declined Napoleon's suit for his sister's hand. 

After the year 1811, every ruler saw that a great war 
was approaching. Napoleon's course at this time not only 
showed his own arrogance, but also the abject condition 
of Germany. It is related that some one said to him, 
"Man proposes, but God disposes;" and he replied, ^'' Moi, 
Je propose, et je dispose aussi." (As for me, I propose, and 
I dispose also). When one of his diplomats told him the 
inevitable consequences of invading Russia, he replied, 
"The word 'impossible' is not French." His uncle. 
Cardinal Faesch, told him that the invasion of Russia 
"would bring upon him the wrath of man, the fury of the 
elements, and the judgment of God." Napoleon, going 
to a window, pointing to the sky, said, " Do you see that 
star?"— "No, Sire." — "I do; good-night." 

Napoleon, more determined than ever to invade Russia, 



442 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

sought the friendship of Austria, and made an arrange- 
ment with her that Marshal Schawarzenberg, with thirty 
thousand men, should be added to Napoleon's service. 
He obliged Prussia to furnish twenty thousand soldiers. 
Frederick William was almost beside himself in being 
obliged to fight Alexander, whose friendship he had re- 
newed, and whose aid he considered his natural support. 
He, as well as all the patriots, recognized the fact that 
Napoleon intended to blot out Prussia from the map, 
and every one advised that the country should make a des- 
perate struggle against his despotism. Scharnhorst had 
ready one hundred and twenty-four thousand men, the 
fortresses were all equipped, and the people, as it after- 
wards proved, were all ready and in the temper to fight; 
but it was no use. Napoleon proposed and disposed also. 
He had three hundred thousand French soldiers of his 
own, and one hundred and fifty thousand from the Con- 
federation of the Rhine; in all, his army amounted to 
seven hundred and sixteen thousand infantry, one hun- 
dred and fourteen thousand cavalry and artillery, and a 
guard of thirty-eight thousand, which were stationed in 
different parts of Europe. 

In May, Napoleon and Maria Louisa, having completed 
the preparation without any formal declaration of war, 
held a grand Court in Dresden, at which Napoleon com- 
manded the attendance of a large number of sovereigns, 
allies, and vassals. The Emperor and Empress of Austria 
were there. King Frederick William of Prussia, the Kings 
of Naples, Wiirtemberg, and Westphalia, and all the sove- 
reigns of the inferior German states. Alexander himself 
had been invited, but the officer who bore the message 
could not obtain an audience; and when the invitation 
was sent to the Russian Embassy of Foreign Affairs, it 
received no answer. Napoleon treated Frederick William 



The Russian Campaign. 443 

with an indifferent courtesy, but his behavior to Austria 
was that of ostentatious neglect. Francis was no longer 
on a level with the othdr sovereigns, because he had laid 
aside his title of Emperor of Germany. The ladies of 
Francis's family were eclipsed by the grandeur of Maria 
Louisa. Napoleon's court made an interesting spectacle 
at the Dresden Theatre, he himself being the centre of 
an audience of kings who occupied the royal box. 

In the spring of 18 12, the largest army since Attila's 
time moved through Germany, and at the end of June 
crossed the river Niemen into Russia. Of the six 
hundred thousand soldiers two hundred thousand were 
Germans, nearly all of whom perished in a foreign land, 
fighting for a cause outside of any interests to them- 
selves. Napoleon attacked the Russians at Smolensk 
on the i6th of August, where he met with great losses. 
The French suffered frightfully from hunger and disease. 
The territory had purposely been laid waste ; and the 
Russians kept retiring farther and farther into the coun- 
try, luring the enemy on. The plan of Alexander had 
been to retreat without a battle. The storehouses were 
to be burned, and all the towns which could afford shel- 
ter and provisions were laid in ashes. In this way the 
military genius of Napoleon would have no opportunity 
to display itself, and the northern winter would drive 
him back exhausted and discouraged. The French re- 
ceived no provisions whatever from the Russian peas- 
ants, while their own troops were furnished with money 
and food from all quarters ; for every one of the fifty mil- 
lions of the Russian population hated the invader with a 
religious hatred. 

On the 7th of September the Russian army of one 
hundred and twenty thousand men met Napoleon in the 
field of Borodino. Yielding to the clamor of the officers, 



444 Germany: Her People mid Their Story. 

who desired an encounter, the most desperate struggle of 
all Napoleon's wars ensued. Before the assault, Napo- 
leon made one of his fiery appeals. He said, "Soldiers, 
we have longed for a battle. Here it is at last! Here 
is the victory which will open the gates of Moscow, 
and bring us good winter quarters, plenty of provisions, 
wealth, and glory! Posterity will say of each of you, 
* He was in that great battle beneath the walls of Mos- 
cow ! ' " The Russians threw themselves into the fight 
by hundreds and by thousands, and when swept away, 
their places were instantly supplied; they were finally 
obliged to retreat, but did so in good order. At the 
close of the fight, eighty thousand soldiers, dead and 
wounded, lay on the field, about an equal number on 
each side. 

On the 14th of September, 181 2, Napoleon reached 
the heights overlooking Moscow. When the soldiers 
caught the first sight of the "Promised Land," the 
pledge of victory, and saw its gleaming towers, its bat- 
tlements, its domes, and the Kremlin, the massive for- 
tress of Moscow, with the palace of the Czars, they 
cried exultingly, "Moscow! Moscow!" Napoleon no- 
ticed one circumstance which he could not understand, 
and which caused him some anxiety. There was no 
smoke arising from any chimney. There was no senti- 
nel, no guard, not a soldier, not a child, not a human 
being. Meanwhile the troops, finding themselves mas- 
ters of the place, immediately commenced their plunder. 
Exulting in their security, they explored the gorgeous 
palaces, they seized the richest objects in the bazaars, 
they clothed themselves with garments of costly silk and 
fur, they drank the most expensive winf ^. It all seemed 
to them like an enchanted city. 

Napoleon had retired to rest, and was dreaming that 



The Russian Campaign. 445 

he had conquered all the world within his reach, and had 
commenced a campaign on the Ganges. At midnight 
he was awakened by the cry of fire ; for the men in the 
midst of their festivities had found that the city was in 
flames. All at once the fires burst out in a hundred 
different places. The truth flashed upon them. Alex- 
ander, seeing no other way to deprive the enemy of win- 
ter quarters and the means of subsistence, had sacrificed 
his beautiful capital ; and after four days, fanned by the 
equinoctial gale, it lay in ashes, and the French legions 
were consigned to famine and desolation. Men who 
had been left to feed the flames were found, and, being 
bound hand and foot, were cast into the fiery furnace. 
The Kremlin was saved. 

Napoleon rode out of the town, through burning 
streets, under falling beams, and took up his quarters 
in a suburban palace ; but on the 20th of September he 
returned to the Kremlin, where he remained until Octo- 
ber 19, waiting for answers to his demands for a treaty 
of peace. The days grew darker and darker, snow began 
to fall, and the means of subsistence were vanishing. 
Napoleon commanded his army to retreat, and ordered 
the Kremlin to be blown up; but happily his design 
failed. The day the French marched out, the third part 
of the unburned city that remained was filled with Rus- 
sian troops and peasants bringing abundant provisions. 

The horrors of the retreat to Napoleon's army no pen 
can describe. Flying bodies of Cossacks harassed the 
soldiers, who were starved, many freezing to death and 
left by the wayside. On November 10, when they halted 
at Smolensk, where they had ordered provisions, of the 
one hundred thousand who left Moscow on the retreat, 
only thirty thousand remained. At one time Napoleon, 
when out reconnoitring with his officers, encountered a 



446 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

party of Cossacks, and only escaped by hiding in a se- 
questered spot by the roadside. There were other por- 
tions of his army scattered over Russia, some of whom 
joined him; but it is said that had not the fear of Napo- 
leon's great name often deterred the Russian officers from 
attacking him, not one man of the vast throng which 
passed through the Niemen would ever have entered Ger- 
many again. 

On December 4 Napoleon left his army, and fled in 
disguise through Germany and France to Paris. On the 
3d of December he had issued his celebrated " Twenty- 
ninth Bulletin." Before this Europe had received no 
information of the disaster. In this document it is 
stated that "the Emperor was safe and well, but the 
grand army was destroyed by the elements." 

According to Russian reports, one hundred thousand 
were taken prisoners, and in the spring two hundred and 
forty-three thousand dead bodies were found on the 
plains ; and when the ice melted, forty thousand bodies 
were taken out of the river at the frightful passage of the 
Beresina. 

Near the end of December, the remnant, one thousand 
men, entered Prussia in military order, followed by twenty 
thousand tramp soldiers. Here the whole body dispersed. 

It was largely due to Stein, who had been with Alexan- 
der, that the latter persevered in making the struggle one 
of extermination. But the fact that all Europe had 
suffered so much from Napoleon's despotism, made all 
the countries feel that this was the time to put him down. 
For this purpose. Stein went with the patriot and author, 
Arndt, across the snow-fields to Germany. 

When Frederick William had agreed to furnish twenty 
thousand troops, his best generals, Blucher, Scharnhorst, 
Gneisenau, and three hundred other officers resigned. 



War of Liberation. 447 

At that time the army and the patriots were so much 
aroused by Frederick William's continued weakness in 
yielding to Napoleon's demands, that they thought of 
removing him from the throne, and of then commencing 
the " War of Liberation," which really began after Napo- 
leon's disastrous campaign in Russia. When the officers 
resigned, the command of the twenty thousand Prussian 
contingent force had been given to General York, who 
was sent to Riga, and escaped the horrors of the retreat. 
He immediately entered into negotiations with the Rus- 
sian general, Diebitch, and had his troops transferred to 
the Russian side, where they remained neutral until York 
had time to communicate with Frederick William. He 
wrote to the king, " I lay my head cheerfully at your 
Majesty's feet if I have erred, and assure your Majesty 
that I shall await the ball on the hillock as calmly as on 
the battlefield, where I have grown gray. But now or 
never is the moment to embrace freedom, independence, 
and greatness. In your Majesty's decision lies the fate 
of the world." 

The War of Liebration now commenced. All the peo- 
ple of Europe combined against Napoleon, who knew that 
the struggle was to be one of life and death. The Rus- 
sians soon after crossed the frontier of Prussia as the 
enemies of Napoleon, and they were everywhere received 
as liberators. Stein joined York at Konigsberg, where 
the Russians were quartered ; but the latter had as yet 
received no command from the king, who, although he 
wished to break the French yoke, was still afraid of 
Napoleon's influence, especially as the French were clam- 
oring against York's movement as treason. Frederick 
William was obliged to declare York superseded ; but it 
was only nominal, since no officer would take his place. 

A patriotic enthusiasm started in East Prussia, and 



44^ Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

spread like wildfire throughout all Prussia and Germany. 
The kingdom was impoverished by the long war, and on 
account of the thoroughfare it had been for the different 
armies ; but the people brought voluntary contributions, 
and the young men enlisted joyously. The magnitude of 
the disaster was not known in Berlin until the 20th of 
December, and then the king authorized York to act as 
the circumstances demanded. It was immediately after 
this that the remnant of Napoleon's army began to pass 
through Prussia in their flight, and the extent of his 
defeat was known throughout Europe. The German 
hatred of the French then burst forth with terrible energy, 
and the people sang as the sacred songsters did over 
their enemies in old Bible times. 

Berlin and Spandau still had French garrisons, and 
exciting rumors spread that they were about to seize the 
king and take him to Paris as a hostage ; the men of 
influence persuaded Frederick William to remove his 
court to Breslau, a town always faithful to him, and acces- 
sible to Russia and Austria. On December 22, 1812, the 
city received him with delight; and on February 3, 1813, 
he issued an ever-memorable call to the people to rush 
to arms, and choose between victory and ruin. He had, 
up to this time, felt bound by his treaties with the 
French, and would have maintained them, had not the 
whole people been unanimous in their will to achieve 
independence, or die with sword in hand. This sentiment 
had been learned from the patriotic authors of the day. 
Klopstock had taught them to be proud of their lineage, 
Schiller that resistance to tyranny was their duty as citi- 
zens ; and Arndt and Korner had given them patriotic 
songs, which stirred them more than the sound of drum 
and trumpet. 

Since Frederick William was not yet emancipated from 



War of Liberation. 449 

his fear of Napoleon, the first proclamation was signed 
by the Minister of State, Hardenberg, who held the same 
sentiments as Stein. It set forth in a few simple words 
that the state was in danger, the enemy not being men- 
tioned. The educated young men all flocked to the 
standard, the universities were closed, the lecture-halls and 
even the higher class-rooms in preparatory schools were 
empty, and used for drill parade. The professors fol- 
lowed the students, one of them, by the name of Steffen, 
turning his lecture to the students on philosophy into a 
call to arms ; Jahn by his influence also handed over his 
whole class of gymnasts as soldiers for the ranks. The 
cultivated classes fought by the side of the peasants. 
Mothers gave their only sons ; women who had none 
to give sent all their jewels to the State Treasurer, and 
wore iron ornaments instead, while some even disguised 
themselves, and enlisted as soldiers. In Berlin nine thou- 
sand recruits were registered in a day, men and boys 
volunteering in the same regiments. It is said that this 
outbreak of enthusiasm was never equalled anywhere ex- 
cept in the United States in 1861. The scenes portrayed 
above are familiar to those who were then studying in 
our colleges, where classes of a hundred were reduced to 
ten, the rules of discipline being suspended, and the rou- 
tine of study yielding to the demand for volunteers. The 
similarity of the situation in the two countries is very 
striking to those who shared in these scenes, and in the 
monotony of study, when those who were left behind, wit- 
nessed with tear-bedimmed eyes the empty benches, 
while listening to the account of brave deeds in the long 
days after the " Boys in Blue " went forth to rescue our 
country, many of them never to return. 

Young Korner wrote to his father, " Germany is 
aroused; the Prussian eagle fires all hearts with the 



450 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

hope of German freedom. My Muse sighs for her 
Fatherland, if it be with my blood." Korner joined a 
regiment called the " Black Huntsmen," and the night 
before he was killed, wrote on the battlefield his " Sword 
Song." In the morning his friends gathered around the 
dying poet, but he never spoke again. His head in death 
was crowned with oak leaves; and he was buried beneath 
an oak-tree, near a village called Wobblen, close by the 
battlefield. 

On February 28 Russia and Prussia made a treaty for 
the restoration of the independence of Europe. Prussia 
was to be restored to its status of 1806; Russia was to 
take possession of Poland, including the part that had 
belonged to Prussia. Frederick William published an 
edict exonerating General York. The Kingdom of Prus- 
sia had only five hundred thousand people, but it soon 
had one man out of every twelve in the field. 

Alexander became the guest of Frederick William at 
Breslau, where, on the loth of March, the people received 
him with tears of joy and shouts of applause. Alexander 
said to Frederick William, " Take courage, these are the 
last tears Napoleon shall draw from thy people." Imme- 
diately after this, Frederick William addressed a call " To 
my people." It ran thus, " Men of Brandenburg, Prussia, 
Silesia, Pomerania, and Lithuania! you need no account 
of the causes of the coming war. You know what you 
have suffered for seven years. You know what your doom 
will be if the war does not end in success. Remember 
the Great Elector and Frederick the Great ! Even small 
nations have fought with great energy in such a cause as 
this. Remember the heroic Swiss and the Netherlanders. 
This is the last struggle, and we undergo it for our 
existence and independence. We must win an honorable 
peace or die a glorious death." 



War of Liberation. 451 

All the German princes who adhered to Napoleon were 
threatened with the loss of their property. The states of 
the Rhine Confederacy, except Mecklenburg, still kept 
their allegiance to France ; Saxony and Bavaria were 
abject in their devotion to Napoleon. Austria remained 
neutral, and exercised her influence against Prussia. 
Sweden, with the Crown Prince Bernadotte, who had 
been a former marshal of Napoleon, and whom at one 
time Napoleon thought of seizing and putting into prison 
at Versailles on account of his hostility, joined the move- 
ment, but with only a lukewarm zeal. 

Four armies were now collected under York in East 
Prussia, West Prussia, and in Pomerania and Silesia. 
The French still held the fortresses, and had twenty 
thousand men in Berlin. In February, 1813, the Cos- 
sacks ventured into the town ; and on the 4th of March, 
York entered the city in triumph with eighteen thousand 
men. The women again came to the rescue, and rivalled 
each other in gifts of clothing, food, and arms. Brides 
gave away their wedding-rings, and young girls their 
beautiful golden hair. They gladly sent their husbands 
and lovers to the war, considering it a disgrace for any one 
to stay at home. The Princess of Hesse-Homburg and 
other royal princesses founded a society for the care of 
the wounded; and the writers like Arndt, Ruckert, Schen- 
kendorf, by the spirit of their poetry and enthusiastic 
writings, kept the zeal of the people brightly burning. 

Napoleon enforced a relentless conscription, enlisting 
young boys and very old men, until he had five hundred 
thousand troops, including those furnished by the Rhine 
Confederation. 

Hamburg and Lubeck were delivered from the French, 
and Eugene Beauharnais was defeated at Mockern with 
heavy losses ; but the first great battle was fought at 



45 2 Germany : Her People ajid Their Story. 

Liitzen, May 2, 1813, around the "Stone of the Swedes," 
where Gustavus Adolphus fell. Ninety-five thousand 
Prussians and Russians held Napoleon's army of one 
hundred and twenty thousand in check for a day. After- 
wards the allies were obliged to retreat ; but they did so 
in good order, comparatively few men being lost. The 
valuable general Scharnhorst received wounds which 
afterwards proved fatal. His death was a great calamity 
to Prussia, since comparatively few of the generals at this 
time had risen to the level of the popular enthusiasm for 
the war. 



War of Liberation Contimicd. 453 



CHAPTER XLV. 

WAR OF LIBERATION CONTINUED. BATTLE OF LEIPSIC. 

ALLIES ENTER PARIS. NAPOLEON's ONE HUNDRED 

DAYS AT ELBA. 

1813 — 1815 A.D. 

SOON after the battle of Liitzen, Napoleon occupied 
Dresden, and Saxony became the seat of war. 
Frederick Augustus, the king, having fled to Prague, on 
the 20th and 21st a battle took place at Bautzen, in 
which the French claimed the day; but the Prussians did 
not consider it a victory on the part of the former, and 
when Napoleon asked for an armistice, they reluctantly 
gave it. The encounter had really resulted in a defeat 
for the French, who lost fifteen thousand, while the allies 
lost but ten thousand. 

Granting this armistice, which lasted from June 4 to 
August 23, proved to be the best thing that had hap- 
pened for the Prussian cause. It gave Prussia an opportu- 
nity to recuperate, and it also gained Austria as an ally. 
Metternich came to Dresden, and had an interview with 
Napoleon. They met in the large palace at Frederick- 
stadt, now the City Hospital, and walked together in the 
beautiful garden. Napoleon offered Austria one-half of 
Prussia if she would remain neutral; but although Fran- 
cis was not wholly indifferent to his daughter's being on 
the throne of France, Metternich refused, and said that 
the allies whom Austria now joined would only make 
peace on Napoleon's dissolving the Confederation of the 



454 Gernia7iy : Her People and Their Story. 

Rhine, and restoring to each European sovereign his 
territory, thus making the Rhine the frontier of France. 
Napoleon rejected the offer, saying insultingly, "How 
much has England paid you to take part against me ? 
Not a village nor a stone shall be taken from the French 
Empire." 

The allies had made a strong coalition, and now had 
eight hundred thousand men in the field. Napoleon 
had five hundred and fifty thousand ; but he was com- 
mander of all his forces, and that strengthened his 
chance to win. The battle of Dresden, fought on the 
27 th of August, 18 13, was the last great victory Napo- 
leon ever attained. At the same moment Bliicher, by 
his bravery, gained a triumph at Katzbach. After this 
there were a number of victories achieved by the Prus- 
sians ; and instead of the shouts of " Lodi, Marengo, 
Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland," ringing through Europe, 
" Moscow, Beresina, Bautzen, Grossbeeren, Culm, Denne- 
witz," were now heard. 

Napoleon's health had commenced to decline, and he 
showed the loss of moral force. He became low-spirited, 
and on battle-days ate scarcely any food. The German 
soldiers of the Rhine Confederation also began to desert, 
and Bavaria joined the allies. But he still had a formid- 
able army, and might have met his enemies on his own 
ground after having withdrawn his troops beyond the 
Rhine. In this way he would have remained sovereign 
of France, but he determined to fight another battle. 
He gave up marching upon Berlin, and took up his posi- 
tion in Leipsic, where he arrived the 13th of October. 
The allies closed in upon him, and here the great conflict 
took place which decided Napoleon's fate. 

On the morning of the i6th three white rockets rose 
in the sky from the camp where the three allied sover- 



Battle of Leipsic. 455 

eigns had spent the night, and the signal was immediately 
answered by three red rockets from the camp of Bliicher. 
Frederick William, Francis, and Alexander, with Schwarz- 
enberg, stood together on a hill, now called the Monarch- 
enhiigel (Hill of the Emperors). Napoleon launched ten 
thousand of his finest cavalry to break through the centre 
of the allies, and stormed the hill on which the three 
sovereigns, with Schwarzenberg, stood. He thought these 
four prisoners would be a magnificent prize. Schwarz- 
enberg begged the monarchs to retire ; then with sword 
in hand he ordered a general attack which drove back the 
French. The battle raged all day ; and although Napoleon 
sent a courier to France with news of victory, and had all 
the bells of Leipsic ring in the evening, it was found that 
the Prussians, under Bliicher, had been victorious. When 
night closed, the latter broke in the old hymn, '•'' Nun dan- 
ket all Gott ;'''' and then, there being no material at hand 
to shield them from the fierce wind, they piled up a wall 
of dead bodies, which sheltered them during the sound 
sleep of the night. At midnight Napoleon awoke with 
such a sense of depression that he sent one of the pris- 
oners to Francis offering concessions, but the messenger 
never returned with a reply. 

The next day was Sunday, and both armies rested. 
The marshals entreated Napoleon to withdraw into 
France; but he replied, " Never ! Never!" On the iSth 
Bernadotte and all the re-enforcements had arrived, and 
also the day of retribution for Napoleon. The " moon 
of Leipsic " is said to have risen the night before ; the 
" sun of Austerlitz " never rose again. 

All day the cannonade from thousands of guns was 
kept up. the earth trembled for miles around, and the 
flames of a dozen villages heated the air. The number 
of troops engaged was so large that there were several 



45^ Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

battles fought. In the meantime forty thousand Saxons 
went over to the allies. Many a shot was sent against 
the windmill where Napoleon himself was stationed. 
The balls often struck near him, and scattered around 
him ; but he seemed to bear a charmed life. The enemy 
were rapidly advancing, and the French were seen flying 
along the road to Leipsic. At four o'clock Napoleon 
saw that no hope remained, and with composure he gave 
the necessary orders ; then sinking down on his camp- 
stool, completely exhausted from so much exposure, he 
fell asleep. It has been said that this sleep lost him the 
victory. The battle closed around him ; but the marshals 
dared not wake him, although Murat finally ventured to 
break to him the news of his defeat. In the evening he 
gave the final order to retreat. 

His general, Poniatowski, said, " Sire, I have but a 
few men left." Napoleon answered, " Defend Leipsic 
with those few." To which the former replied, "We are 
ready to die for your Majesty." And he did give his 
life for his general, a few days afterwards, being drowned 
at the blowing up of the bridge over the Elster, when fif- 
teen hundred prisoners, with two hundred cannon were 
taken, and twenty thousand sick and wounded lost their 
lives, or fell into the hands of the enemy. 

On receiving the news of the victory, the three mon- 
archs on the hill knelt down and offered up thanks to 
God. A monument now marks the spot, and also an 
obelisk near the place where the windmill stood from 
which Napoleon directed the battle. One hundred thou- 
sand men lay dead upon the field, the losses being about 
equal. 

On the 19th the allies entered Leipsic, and were received 
as deliverers. The housetops were covered with people, 
who were in a frenzy of delight. The three sovereigns 



Battle of Leipsic. 457 

entered Leipsic on foot, amidst the acclamations of the 
people and the pealing of bells. The son of Frederick 
William III., afterwards Emperor William 1., was present. 
Germany, from the Baltic to the Alps, was justly elated 
over the victory. The people felt that it was their triumph ; 
for it was to their bravery that the sovereigns owed the 
results, and it has always been called "The Battle of 
the People." After his defeat, Napoleon retreated with 
ninety thousand men to Erfurt. Neither the generals 
nor the sovereigns tried at this time to cut off his retreat. 
He was enabled, therefore, to rest thirty hours in Erfurt. 
He, however, heard in the morning that the Rhenish Con- 
federation was deserting, and he was afraid that his 
retreat would be cut off. Until this time he had been 
calm and collected; but now he saw by the gloomy 
glances cast upon him that his soldiers were changing 
in their feelings, and regarded him as the destroyer of 
their country, instead of the all-conquering hero who 
was to carry victory in his train. 

At Hanau he learned that Maximilian of Bavaria had 
gone over to the allies, and he found an army under the 
Bavarian General Wrede drawn up to oppose his advance 
to the Rhine. He cut his way through these troops, and 
hastened oji to Paris with his army, which, on account of 
the great number of desertions, was reduced to seventy 
thousand, out of the three hundred and fifty thousand 
which he had led into the field six months before. 

The battle of Leipsic had been to Napoleon what 
Austerlitz was to Austria, and Jena had been to Prussia. 
Jerome Bonaparte fled from his kingdom of Westphalia, 
and Wiirtemberg joined the allies. Schwarzenberg 
marched through Switzerland into Burgundy, hoping to 
meet Wellington ; and Bliicher with a third army crossed 
the Rhine at three points, on the night of the New Year, 



45 8 Gcnnany : Her People and Theh' Story. 

1814. The subjection of Germany to France was practi- 
cally over. But still, although the officers urged an en- 
ergetic prosecution of the war, Francis II. and Alexander 
objected. A new offer of peace was made to Napoleon, 
and the allies would have accepted humiliating terms 
had not Napoleon still thought himself invincible, and 
refused all their overtures. 

The allied armies were three months advancing into 
Paris; even then they very nearly surprised Napoleon, 
since he had not expected an invasion before spring; 
but he collected an army of one hundred thousand men, 
and was victorious the 29th of January; but the ist of 
February he was compelled to retreat. These advantages 
on the part of the allies might have been followed up 
had not the three monarchs stopped to consult, and by 
their disunited advice and commands hindered the gen- 
erals in the great work which they had undertaken. This 
state of things suited Napoleon exactly, and he hurled 
his troops against the divided forces of the Prussians; 
and in five battles, from the loth to the 14th, he overcame 
and drove them back. On the i8th, also, he defeated 
Schwarzenberg's army, and compelled the latter to retreat. 

It is said Napoleon never showed such brilliancy of 
genius as in the three months after his disaster at Leip- 
sic, and it is evident he did not lose courage; for when 
the allies again offered peace, giving to France the boun- 
daries of 1792, including Savoy, Lorraine, and Alsace, 
he refused. He went on disputing every inch of ground ; 
and had it not been for the bravery of Stein, Bliicher, and 
the German soldiers, the allies at the very eve of vic- 
tory would have given up. In some respects, however, 
Napoleon's victories now were defeats, since he had no 
means of making up the great losses incurred in these 
numerous battles. 



Allies Enter Paris. 459 

Finally, on the 30! of March, at noon, the three sover- 
eigns made their triumphant entry into Paris ; and then, 
for the first time, they determined to dethrone Napoleon. 
The last fight had taken place at the very gates of the city, 
after which, at the head of fifty thousand troops, accom- 
panied by a crowd of princes, ambassadors, and generals, 
the procession advanced through the thronged streets. 

Napoleon was astonished at the rapid advance of the 
allies upon Paris. When he heard of it, on the 27th of 
March, he did not believe it; but he hurried on towards 
Fontainebleau in advance of his army, and reached the 
chateau at midnight. He ordered fresh horses, and drove 
towards Paris, supposing that his presence as usual would 
change the current of events. When he reached the city, 
and learned the worst, he immediately retired to rest. 

Talleyrand managed the affairs for the Royalists, and 
procured from Alexander a proclamation declaring that 
he would not treat with Napoleon or his family. The 
printer of this document, Michaud, signed his name 
" Printer to the King." These significant words had not 
been seen for many years. 

Louis XVIII. immediately ascended the throne. Napo- 
leon signed his abdication in favor of his son, the King 
of Rome. 

Alexander had always felt a certain sympathy for him, 
and on reading his abdication was surprised that he had 
asked nothing for h'mself. He said, " I have been his 
friend, I will now be his advocate. I propose that he 
shall keep his imperial title, and have six million francs 
a year, with Elba for his dominion." 

On the nth of April, at Fontainebleau, Napoleon 
signed his second abdication, being obliged this time 
to renounce, not only for himself, but for his heirs, the 
thrones of France and Italy. 



46o Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

On Napoleon's journey to Elba he was attended by a 
commissioner from each of the allied powers, four in 
number. He also was to have four hundred and fifty 
infantry and one hundred and fifty cavalry of the Impe- 
rial Guard, all volunteers. In the northern provinces 
he was respectfully received ; but in the south, where he 
had never been popular, the crowds showed an unfriendly 
feeling, and at last assumed a threatening attitude. He 
was obliged to dress himself in an Austrian uniform, 
and at last reached Frejus dressed as a courier, sitting 
on the box with the coachman. He was carried to Elba 
in an English frigate. 

A Congress was opened on the ist of November, 1814, 
at Vienna, by the Great Powers, to found, ostensibly, a 
liberal government. But the result of the conference 
was not calculated to restore the confidence of the peo- 
ple. At a cost of thirty million florins, Francis II. 
offered a series of splendid entertainments to the mem- 
bers of the Congress, which latter lasted seven months, 
from November i, 1814, to June 11, 1815. All the na- 
tions were represented by their best statesmen. Be- 
sides the Emperors and Kings, the Ministers of State, 
among them Metternich, the Russian Ambassador, Prince 
Hardenberg, Prince Talleyrand, William von Humboldt, 
the Duke of Wellington, and other distinguished states- 
men and generals, were present. Stein had not been 
appointed, but he assisted by his counsel. 

The ideas of such men as Humboldt and Stein were 
only moderately entertained by the Assembly. One of 
the reformed progressive ideas of these men was that 
the people should be represented in this very Congress. 
General Gneisenau wrote concerning the acts of the par- 
liament, "Alexander spoils everything by his magna- 
nimity towards France. The cunning Metternich has no 



Metternich. 461 

noble aims." It is said that they treated France as ten- 
derly as if the throwing off the yoke of Napoleon and 
the invasion of that country had been an outrage on 
their part. No indemnity was at this time exacted from 
France, and the works of art stolen from the Italian and 
German galleries were not then reclaimed. They gave 
one million francs to ex-Empress Josephine, who died 
the same year. Maria Louisa received the Duchy of 
Parma; and the other Bonapartes were allowed to retain 
the title of prince, for the name of Bonaparte was still 
influential. 

For more than thirty years from this time, Metter- 
nich, until he was obliged to flee from the country in the 
revolution of 1848, was the real Emperor of Austria, and 
controlled almost the whole of Europe. Talleyrand was 
very cunning in diplomacy, and before the winter was 
over had persuaded Austria and England to join France 
in an alliance against Russia and Prussia, and another 
war seemed inevitable. 



462 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

ESCAPE FROM ELBA. WATERLOO. ST. HELENA. FINAL 

ADJUSTMENT OF THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA. 

1815 — 1840 A.D. 

ALL minor considerations were put aside, when, on 
±\, the I St of March, 18 15, the startling news arrived 
that Napoleon had landed in France. Immediately exist- 
ing jealousies subsided, because all must unite in put- 
ting down the common foe. Austria, Russia, and Prussia 
agreed to furnish one hundred and fifty thousand men, 
and England five million pounds in money and some of 
its best generals, but a less number of soldiers. All the 
small German states also sent troops, and there was so 
much patriotism that there were more volunteers than 
could be employed. 

Napoleon reached Paris the 20th of March, 18 15, and 
organized a new army. At the same time he tried to 
make a treaty of peace on the basis so often offered him, 
that of restoring the boundaries as in 1792. But the 
terror of his great name had passed away, and no reply 
was made to his overtures. 

The people in France had suffered so much from war, and 
now were so anxious for peace, that, although Napoleon 
raised half a million men, his position was not strong, 
and he had to use many of his troops in preventing out- 
breaks at home. With his best forces, one hundred and 
twenty thousand soldiers, he marched towards Belgium 
to meet Wellington and Bliicher. The former had one 



Battle at Ligny. 463 

hundred thousand men, and Bliicher one hundred and 
fifteen thousand, and was rapidly approaching to meet 
Wellington. Ney had promised Louis XVIII. that he 
would bring Napoleon to him in an iron cage ; but as 
soon as he came under the influence of the magnetic 
demigod he went over to his side, and fought with him 
at Waterloo, He was afterwards executed in the Lux- 
emburg Gardens, having been condemned for treason by 
Louis XVIII. 

Two battles occurred on the i6th of June. Napoleon 
was afraid that Bliicher and Wellington would unite. 
Therefore he attacked Bliicher at Ligny. The horse of 
Bliicher was shot under him, and both rolled under the 
hoofs of the cuirassiers. Rescued by his faithful adju- 
tant, Bliicher did not stop to have his wounds dressed, 
but collected his scattered army at Wavre. It was from 
this place that he afterwards went when he re-enforced 
Wellington at the decisive moment at Waterloo. In the 
meantime Ney had attacked Wellington with forty thou- 
sand men at Quatrebras. The gallant Duke of Bruns- 
wick, at the head of the Black Legion of Vengeance, 
was slain in a cavalry charge. Wellington retired to 
Waterloo the next day in order to be nearer Bliicher, and 
Napoleon united with Ney and marched against Welling- 
ton with seventy-five thousand men, while Grouchy was 
sent with thirty-six thousand to attack Bliicher. On the 
17th there was no fighting. In the afternoon Napoleon 
reached the height of Belle Alliance ; and when he saw 
Wellington's army drawn up for battle, he said, "At last 
I have these English in my grasp. " It was always Napo- 
leon's luck to have a deluge of rain on the evening before 
a defeat. About noon of the 17th, according to the estab- 
lished precedent, rain began to fall, and the roads were 
soon nearly under water. 



464 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

At daybreak on the i8th the heavens had cleared, and 
the sun arose with great splendor, — the sun of Waterloo. 
Wellington had exhorted his soldiers to hold their posi- 
tion until Bliicher, according to agreement, should arrive. 
He gave the men this watchword : " The Prussians or the 
night." At half-past four everything portended disas- 
ter to the allies ; and it seemed to Wellington that the 
moment of destiny had arrived for the Prussians, and 
the hour of victory to the French. Stationing himself at 
Mont St. Jean, under an elm commanding a view of the 
whole field, Wellington gave his orders with his watch 
in his hand; and as he saw his lines staggering, and his 
squares about to give way under the heavy fire of the 
French, he shouted repeatedly, "Would that Bliicher or 
the night would come ! " To deceive Grouchy, Bliicher 
left a few troops at Wavre, and pushed forward through 
the rain, which had commenced, across a marshy coun- 
try to Wellington's relief; for if he could come without 
Grouchy at his rear. Napoleon would be defeated. For 
two hours the battle hung in suspense, Napoleon hoping 
that Grouchy would hold Bliicher back or beat him on 
the field. At four o'clock the bugles were heard at the 
French right, and the noise of an approaching army at 
a distance. Was it Bliicher or Grouchy .'' The suspense 
was only momentary, when the cry was heard, running 
through the broken English line and the wavering ranks 
of Wellington, "The Prussians are coming! " Napoleon 
had thought the troops seen at a distance were those of 
Grouchy; but when he learned the truth, he called out four 
battalions of his veterans, and then his Old Guard, giv- 
ing his last orders from his headquarters at a farmhouse 
near the Belle Alliance. At seven o'clock this most fear- 
less body of horsemen charged upon the English squares ; 
they reeled under the shock, then re-formed and stood 



Waterloo. 465 

fast; and round these immovable lines the soldiers of the 
Empire beat with unavailing courage as the cry went up, 
"The Guard is repulsed ! " Billow's corps soon appeared 
on the French flank; Bliicher's army closed in imme- 
diately after ; Marshal Ney vainly attempted to stem the 
tide of destruction, five horses being shot under him. 
At eight o'clock the French went flying from the field; 
Bliicher and Wellington with their forces pressed for- 
ward, and forced the Imperial Guard down the descent 
at the point of the bayonet. 

Mounted on his horse. Napoleon beheld from the Belle 
Alliance his final destruction and fall. A few Guards 
pressed around him ; and one of them took his rein, and 
led him toward Charleroi. On taking a carriage, the road 
was found obstructed by flying troops. The postilions 
cried, " Way for the Emperor ! " The soldiers shouted 
back, "There is no Emperor." In a few moments some 
Prussian artillery came upon him, and he had just time to 
leap upon a horse and fly, leaving his hat, sword, jewels, 
portfolios, and papers in the carriage. 

Bliicher and Wellington met at nine o'clock on the 
same spot on the Belle Alliance where Napoleon had 
stood directing the battle. Wellington said, " I sleep to- 
night in Napoleon's headquarters." Bliicher answered, 
" I will see that he gets no other quarters." Gneisenau 
brought the army together, and bowed his head while the 
strain of " N'un danket alle Gotf " rose in the air. Con- 
trary to their methods after the battle of Leipsic, the 
Prussians pursued, and did everything they could to an- 
nihilate the French army. They thought it a duty to 
destroy it, lest another conflagration should be kindled by 
the would-be Conqueror of the World. Only a remnant 
of those engaged in the battle of Waterloo ever met again 
in arms. The French had lost twenty-five thousand men, 



466 Germany : Her People atid TJieir Story. 

the allies a few thousand less. Bliicher wanted to have 
Napoleon shot in the prison of Vincennes, where the 
Duke d'Enghien had been murdered. Wellington refused, 
saying, " I am not an executioner. I am a soldier." ■ It 
was Prussia that proposed St. Helena. 

A new treaty was made between the allied monarchs 
and the Bourbon dynasty before the Congress of Vienna 
closed. This time there was not so much tenderness felt 
towards France ; and the treasures of art and learning 
were restored to Italy and Germany, and an indemnity of 
seven hundred million francs was required. Savoy was 
given back to Sardinia ; and a strip of territory, including 
Landau and other fortresses, was added to Germany. 
Talleyrand, with Alexander I., defeated the attempt of 
Austria and Prussia to get back Alsace and Lorraine. 
Poland was left partitioned as before. Although the last 
battle was fought in Saxony, and the king, Frederick 
Augustus, was taken prisoner, Prussia's claim to the king- 
dom was defeated by Austria and England. Holland and 
Belgium were annexed to Germany, and given to the 
House of Orange, being called the Kingdom of the 
Netherlands. Switzerland was allowed to remain a re- 
public. Austria kept whatever territory she had owned 
before the invasion of Napoleon. Prussia gained the 
least. She gave up Warsaw to Russia, but kept Posen 
and recovered Westphalia, the territory on the lower 
Rhine, and was enlarged by the annexation of Swedish 
Pomerania, a part of Saxony, and the former archbishop- 
rics of Mainz, Treves, and Cologne. Hanover was made 
a kingdom, and received from Prussia East Friedland. 
Weimar, Oldenburg, and the two Mecklenburgs were 
made Grand Duchies. Bavaria received more territory in 
Franconia, and all of the Palatinate west of the Rhine. 
Frankfort, Bremen, and Lubeck remained free cities ; the 



Adjustment of the Congress of Vienna. 467 

smaller states gained more or less, but Saxony lost half 
of her territory. Napoleon in his march had swept away 
many abuses, and the number of German states was 
reduced from over three hundred to thirty-nine. 

This Congress of Vienna was a great disappointment 
to the people, since it did not give them any encourage- 
ment that the government would be much more progres- 
sive or the rulers less selfish in desiring absolute power; 
but much in the old political constitution had vanished in 
the wars of Napoleon. 

The German states now felt that some form of union 
was necessary. The people had long dreamed of a 
nation, and they had never been satisfied since the old 
Empire died out. They felt the necessity of a stronger 
form of government which should include all the states. 

Three weeks before the battle of Waterloo, a royal 
decree had been published in Berlin, providing for a 
National Assembly and a Constitution. On June 8 a 
Federal Act was adopted, declaring that there should be 
assemblies in every state. As has been seen, the sove- 
reigns, when the hour of trouble was over, forgot to ratify 
in the Congress of Vienna any of these promises. It is 
unpleasant to record it, but Prussia took the lead in this 
breach of faith; and although Frederick William III. kept 
promising, and William IV. tried to conciliate the people 
by many concessions, no step was taken towards forming 
a constitution until Frederick William IV. was obliged to 
do so in the Revolution of 1848. 

The thirty-three years from the Congress at Vienna to 
1848 were made up of a struggle between the people and 
Metternich. The latter had secured the supremacy of 
Austria in a scheme of Confederation drawn up just be- 
fore the battle of Waterloo; and although it left things 
very much as they were, it presented the appearance of 



468 Gcrma7iy : Her People and Their Story. 

an advanced organization, and controlled the destinies of 
Europe for nearly fifty years. It was composed of the 
Austrian Empire, the kingdoms of Prussia, Bavaria, Sax- 
ony, Wiirtemberg and Hanover, all the Grand Duchies 
and Duchies, Denmark on account of Holstein, The Neth- 
erlands, the four free cities, eleven small principalities ; 
in all thirty-nine states. The Act of Union assured 
equal rights, independent sovereignty, and representation 
in a General Diet to be held at Frankfort under the 
presidency of Austria, Altogether the support of an 
army of three hundred thousand men was guaranteed. 
One article required that each state should introduce a 
representative form of government. All religions were 
made equal before the law, and freedom of the press and 
the rights of emigration were insured. The representa- 
tive government unfortunately did not include the right 
of suffrage, but the carrying out of that provision was 
left entirely to the rulers of the states. 

A serious opposition to the system of Metternich grew 
up gradually among the smaller states, especially when 
they came to understand that the whole scheme was only 
an aggregate of promises. Austria and Prussia, as has 
been mentioned, never fulfilled the pledge until 1848. 
Weimar, under Charles Augustus, was the first to confirm 
it; and in 1818 Nassau, Wiirtemberg, Bavaria, and Baden 
followed suit. Hanover, in 1833, established a liberal 
constitution ; but afterwards the Duke of Cumberland, 
Ernest Augustus, overthrew it. About this same time 
seven professors, among them the brothers Grimm, were 
banished from Gottingen. 

Alexander I. of Russia persuaded Francis H. and 
Frederick William IV. to unite in a curious treaty called 
the " Holy Alliance." By it they agreed to prevent the 
people from disturbing the peace by groundless revolu- 



Adjustment of the Cotigress of Vienna. 469 

tion, and to treat each other with brotherly love ; to con- 
sider all nations as members of one Christian family, and 
to rule their subjects with justice and kindness. It origi- 
nated ostensibly in gratitude to God for the deliverance 
of Europe from Napoleon. Francis hesitated at first 
about putting his name to it ; but Metternich, on reading 
the document, laughed, and said, " Your Majesty can safely 
sign. It is all twaddle." All the rulers gave it their 
signatures except George IV. of England, Louis XVIII., 
and the Pope; but it was always a " Dead Letter," there 
being no greater evidences of any more brotherly or 
fatherly love than before. 

No class was so bitterly disappointed in the results of 
the War of Liberation as the young men. The students 
in the universities formed societies, fiery speeches were 
made, songs were sung, and free expression was given to 
their distrust of the government ; they were inspired by 
two ideas, — Union and Freedom. A young student called 
Sand assassinated a dramatic author named Kotzebue, in 
March, 18 19 ; and thereupon all the reigning princes ima- 
gined that their lives were in danger, especially as two 
years before the students had held a convention at the 
Wartburg, for the purpose of agreeing upon revolutionary 
measures. A congress of ministers was held at Carlsbad, 
the freedom of the press was abolished, the formation 
of societies among students was prohibited, and commis- 
sioners were appointed to have supervision over univer- 
sities, to hear what the professors said in their lectures. 
Many of the best teachers and authors were deprived of 
their situations, among them Jahn and the poet Arndt. 
Hundreds of young men who had committed no act of 
resistance were thrown into prison, because there was 
such a cry of alarm lest the scenes of the French Revolu- 
tion should be repeated. 



4/0 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

The thirt}'^ years of peace following the War of Libera- 
tion were marked by few events of importance. The 
scars left by the struggle gradually disappeared, and those 
who did not look into underlying principles had a kind of 
repose. There was a three days' revolution in France in 
1830, which placed Louis Philippe on the throne. This 
was followed by some popular uprisings in Germany. The 
Belgians, on account of having been treated by the Dutch 
as a conquered people, were already in a state of excite- 
ment, when the news came that Charles X. had fled, and 
Louis Philippe had been raised to the throne. In the 
Grand Opera at Brussels a revolutionary scene in the 
drama produced an explosion, and the audience rushed 
into the street and began destroying the government 
offices. The militia fired on the crowd, but the revolution 
grew more and more fierce. Other Belgian cities rose ; 
and after heavy fighting Belgium gained its indepen- 
dence, which was guaranteed by the great powers, Janu- 
ary 20, 1831. 

The best days for Frederick William came after 1815. 
The people of Prussia were much attached to him, not- 
withstanding his weak character; and since they did not 
covet a part of the liberal movements of the times, they 
continued to endure his internal administration, which 
was much better than his foreign policy. Inasmuch as 
Frederick William was closely bound to Russia and Aus- 
tria by the terms of the Holy Alliance, and the influence 
of Metternich and the Czar was a hindrance to the devel- 
opment of Prussia, such men as Stein, Gneisenau, and 
Humboldt fell into the background, and authors like 
Arndt and Schleiermacher were persecuted and finally 
banished. 

It had been the idea of Stein to place over the German 
Confederation a Directory consisting of Austria, Prussia, 




Germany in Literature, Music, and Art. 

Schiller. Goethe. 

Diirer. 
U'litriier. Beethoven. 



Death of Frederick William III. 471 

Bavaria, and Hanover. This plan went through many 
modifications, and the result was the celebrated Federal 
Diet i^B undestag) in which each state of the Confederation 
was represented. In 182 1 all the southern states had 
constitutions, and it was the business of the Bundestag 
to see that they did as little mischief as possible. The 
Bundestag was hated by the nation because it was too 
reactionary; by Metternich because it was too progres- 
sive. Frederick William would have no doubt granted 
a Constitution had it not been for the influence of Metter- 
nich ; and as the restrictive measures of the German Diet 
became more intolerable, Metternich threw the blame 
more and more upon Prussia. 

The most important act of the Prussian Government 
was the effort to bring about unity of trade and commerce 
throughout Germany. During the years from 1828 to 
1834 all of Germany except Austria united in the Zoil- 
Vereln or Customs-Union. This Union produced a com- 
mon national interest, and Prussia was regarded as the 
head. It was the first independent act; and it proved 
to be a momentous one, for it placed Germany on equal 
terms with other nations in the markets of the world. 

The real shadow on the reign of Frederick William was 
the number of prosecutions and imprisonments of young 
students and men of moderate views for the expression 
of indignation and disapproval of acts of oppression. 

In June, 1840, the people of Berlin were informed that 
their king was dying. He had reigned forty-three years ; 
and although he had been narrow, and had failed in not 
having granted to his people the promised Constitution, 
he had been a well-disposed sovereign, an upright man, 
an evangelical Christian, and at the time of his death he 
was revered and much beloved. 

The king was in possession of his faculties until the 



472 Germany: Her People and TJieir Story. 

last moment. He transacted business, and desired that 
everything in the city and about his grounds in Charlotten- 
burg, where he died, should go on as usual. He would 
not allow straw to be laid before his palace, although the 
street was one of the noisiest; and he insisted that the use 
of a pump back of his residence should still be kept up. 
Just before he died he revived ; and noticing that the band 
was not playing as usual opposite his windows, he asked 
that it might go on. His daughter, the Empress of Rus- 
sia, arrived in a carriage white with dust, just before the 
king breathed his last, several post-horses having been 
driven to death on the road. Bulletins had been issued 
at short intervals ; and at length the crowd, standing in 
awed silence around the palace, was shocked by the ap- 
pearance of one with an ominous black border, and the 
words upon it were repeated with reverence and awe 
throughout the town: "The King is dead." Dressed in 
his ordinary uniform, Frederick William III. looked in 
death the same as seen to-day in the mausoleum at 
Charlottenburg, where the reclining statues of himself 
and Queen Louise by Ranch are visited annually by thou- 
sands of people. The body was carried to the Great 
Elector's palace, where it lay in state, and was inspected 
by an immense crowd. 



Frederick William IV. 473 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

FREDERICK WILLIAM IV. BISMARCK's FIRST APPEARANCE. 

REVOLUTION OF 1848. REVOLT IN HUNGARY. 

WILLIAM IV. STRICKEN WITH APOPLEXY. 

1840—1858 A.D. 

THE funeral of Frederick William HI. was at once 
followed by the coronation of his eldest son, Fred- 
erick William IV., who, besides being distinguished by 
genius and culture, was regarded as a man most noble 
and generous. He had been very popular as Crown 
Prince, and his accession was hailed with joy. All were 
in the expectation that the measures so long postponed 
by his father would be immediately adopted, and that the 
nation would at length have a real representative system. 
William IV. took no steps, however, towards the adoption 
of a Constitution, but made a few and unimportant con- 
cession^, declaring an amnesty for political offences, and 
welcoming back to the country such men as Arndt and 
the brothers Grimm. He attached to himself the scien- 
tist, Alexander von Humboldt, as his political adviser. 
But all his acts showed that he meant to strengthen his 
throne by the support of the nobility without regard to the 
claims of his subjects. He interfered in the most arbi- 
trary manner with the system of religious instruction, and 
made the espionage of the people more severe. 

At the time of his coronation there had been a general 
jubilee, and the whole city was electrified. All the popu- 
lace were out in bright attire as he and his queen entered 



474 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

the Brandenburg Gate, passing through the Konigstraase 
to the old Elector's palace, by the bridge where the eques- 
trian statue of the Great Elector stands guard. One hun- 
dred and twenty thousand people had assembled to do 
the king homage ; and he was received, when he appeared 
on the highest steps of the tribune, with a simultaneous 
outburst of applause. But it was only a few years before 
the people, tired of waiting for progressive movements 
and liberal views to develop, grew lukewarm in their 
regard. Signs of a revolutionary character were apparent 
as early as 1844, a Catholic priest by the name of Ronge 
publishing mutinous addresses to the German people. 

The idea of forcible resistance to the government con- 
tinued to spread, and local outbreaks kept occurring up 
to 1847, when Frederick William IV. tried to silence the 
increasing opposition by ordering the formation of a Le- 
gislative Assembly, February 8, 1847. The Assembly 
(^Landtag) was to meet April 1 1 of the same year ; but 
when it came together, and it was understood that the 
provinces were represented by the nobility and not by 
the people, the latter clamored anew for a direct repre- 
sentation and a Constitution. 

Frederick William IV. gave the Assembly to under- 
stand that he believed that a Constitution was unnecessary, 
and that a "bit of paper " ought not to intervene between 
God and the country. The Assembly was much aroused 
by the reference to the "bit of paper," since from it 
they saw he never intended to grant a Constitution ; 
they were about to insist, when a young nobleman arose 
to speak. 

It was Bismarck, and this was his first appearance in 
public as a statesman. He was then thirty-two years old. 
He told them that they might think he held views belong- 
ing to the dark ages, but that he considered their present 



Bismarck' s First Appearance. 475 

form of government better for Prussia than a liberal con- 
stitution, since the people were not prepared for political 
institutions like those of England. Then he referred to 
the claim that the people of Prussia had fought so bravely 
in the War of Liberation. He said, " You calumniate 
them when you say they fought for any other reward than 
the glory and blessing of victory. Did the people make 
a bargain with their sovereign, and ask to be paid for 
breaking their chains?" 

Bismarck was interrupted by a storm of cries and hisses 
which made it impossible for him to proceed. After sev- 
eral attempts to do so, he drew a morning paper from his 
pocket, and leaning back, commenced to read it, standing 
thus until order was restored. He thereupon took a stand 
on the charge made against William IV. that he literally 
believed in the Gospel. The position he then took on 
this point he always maintained, although his conserva- 
tive political views were afterward modified. 

A current of unbelief which had been world-wide the 
House of Hohenzollern had withstood, although many 
gifted men in Germany had tried to overthrow it. The 
Great Elector, Frederick William I., Frederick William 
in., Frederick William IV., and, later. Emperor William 
I., all were true to their convictions concerning the origi- 
nal Gospel. Bismarck mentioned in the Assembly that he 
had heard the day before from one of the members that 
the Christian religion is only a fiction of modern times. 
He told them he believed it was as old as the Holy Ro- 
man Empire, and that no state could exist on any other 
foundation. " For myself," he added, " I can recognize 
as the will of God only what is revealed in the Gospels; 
and I call only that a Christian state, the object of which 
is to realize the principles of Christianity." Bismarck had 
a Christian mother, and the influence of Princess Bis- 



4/6 G e rill any : Her People aiid TJieir Story. 

marck, who was almost a devotee, had strengthened his 
early orthodox views. After his retirement from politics, 
he once said that he had no difficulty in believing in 
Providence, revelation, immortality, and the divinity of 
Christ ; but he did call in question the dogma that Chris- 
tianity and the Church are identical terms. 

Although this Assembly seemed to have done nothing, 
it had made the people more certain that they needed a 
representative system ; it also enlisted many enlightened 
men in the cause of reform, and convinced the king that 
the nation desired a broader representation. 

This was the situation in Prussia when the sound of 
the French Revolution of 1848 reached Germany, and kin- 
dled fires which were only quenched by concessions from 
the throne. Louis Philippe had abdicated, and was fly- 
ing to England under the name of Mr. Smith. Between 
the momentous days of February 22 and March 18, 1848, 
all governments of the smaller German states adopted 
platforms to suit the democratic tendencies of the times. 
Only Prussia and Austria remained like bulwarks against 
the storm. 

In Bavaria King Louis, on account of injudicious trans- 
actions, was compelled to abdicate in favor of his son, 
Maximilian IL, notwithstanding his long patriotic services. 
Hanover and Saxony were disturbed in their government 
by the news from Paris ; but their kings resisted until 
Berlin and Vienna were seized by the mob, and then they 
thought best to yield. The patriotic party took up the 
old cry for national unity, with a representation of the 
people in the Diet of the Confederation. 

This disturbance was unlike the Revolution of 1830, 
and was not so easily put down. March 13, Metter- 
nich, who had so long imposed his despotic views upon 
Europe, having been in power since 1810, was overthrown. 



Revohttion of 1848. 477 

He was obliged to flee from Vienna, and seek an asylum 
in England. 

In Berlin, on the i8th of March, there were scenes 
which painfully contrasted with those which enlivened 
the city eight years before at the time of Frederick Wil- 
liam's coronation. As then a hundred thousand people 
thronged the streets, but instead of accommodations for 
applauding spectators, there were barracks flowing with 
blood ; in place of illuminations in honor of the king, 
there was the glare of burning houses and the flash of 
cannon from the troops called out by the king against 
the people, who. fired by the news from Paris, had risen 
in revolt. Instead of carriages filled with flowers, Fred- 
erick William IV. was forced to witness from his palace 
windows the bearing away of hundreds of dead and 
bleeding bodies lifted on planks and transported before 
the royal grounds. 

All the demands of the Revolutionists were there- 
upon instantly granted. On the following day, Frederick 
William IV., riding through the streets with the imperial 
banner, black, red and gold, raised aloft, swore that he 
would grant the rights demanded by the people. He 
issued a proclamation which closed thus : " From this 
day Prussia becomes merged in Germany." The sol- 
diers were then removed from Berlin, and the excite- 
ment subsided. 

Crown Prince William of Prussia, brother of the king, 
afterwards Emperor William I., expressed his disapproval 
of this and other weak conciliatory measures. In order 
to get rid of his advice, the king ordered him on a 
mission to England. His departure from the country 
gave the people reason to think that he had desired to 
suppress the revolt by force. The hostility against him 
and the royal faction was such that his palace was taken 



478 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

possession of by students engaged in the Revolution, and 
a colossal banner hung out with the inscription, " Na- 
tional Property." On March i8 there appeared to be 
danger that the palace would be demolished. It was 
entered by the populace, but protected in a singular way 
by the students, who lounged out of the windows, and 
smoked their pipes into the faces of the mob who were 
crying, " Down with the Prince ! and down with the 
Palace ! " When Prince William returned a few months 
after, it was with great difficulty that he was allowed to 
speak in the Assembly. 

The whole year of 1848 was eventful for Europe, and 
especially for Germany. There were many complications 
connected with the attempts to reorganize the govern- 
ment. In Berlin the power was held ail summer, until 
October, by an unintelligent mob that completely eclipsed 
the Prussian Diet, which the king had early been forced 
to call to satisfy the demands of the people. One day a 
band of men entered a shop for the purpose of lynching 
a glover who was thought to have betrayed the demo- 
cratic party. The glover himself had fled ; but they 
seized his stock of gloves, and cut them into a thousand 
pieces, scattering them around on the pavement, together 
with his account-books, letters, and documents torn into 
bits. They visited all the shops of the furnishers of the 
Prince of Prussia, and committed similar outrages. 

Vienna was for a time controlled by a body of students 
and laborers. In the Diet atA^ienna the different nations 
of which the Empire was composed quarrelled, Italy and 
Hungary repeatedly revolting, until the agitation threat- 
ened the Austrian Empire with complete dissolution. 
The orderly people were horrified by the violence of the 
Revolution, fearing the destruction of their homes. Later 
the government increased its armed force, Minister Ra- 



Revolution of 1848. 479 

detzky putting down the Italian insurrection, and Prince 
Windischgratz overthrowing the democratic element, but 
not until the streets had been drenched with rivers of blood. 

In 1835 Francis II., after a reign of forty-three years, 
had died, being succeeded by his son, Ferdinand I., a 
prince so weak that Austria had ever since his accession 
in reality been without a head. Finally, on the 2d of 
December, 1848, the ministry at Vienna persuaded Fer- 
dinand to abdicate in favor of his nephew, Francis Joseph, 
a youth eighteen years of age, who is Emperor at the 
present time. 

Early in the year the leading statesmen, alarmed at 
the news of the Revolution of Paris, had met at Heidel- 
berg in a convention called for the purpose of inviting 
the German people to a provisional assembly which 
should elect representatives to a great German Parlia- 
ment. The Assembly met March 13 at Frankfort, and 
was called the "Fore Parliament." In it the people 
were represented by six hundred men from almost every 
class and profession, who desired to form a government 
in which the public should have a voice. At their first 
sitting, on March 31, a revolutionist named Struve pro- 
posed that the hereditary monarchy should be abolished 
and a republic take its place ; but the Assembly offered 
another resolution, declaring that it had no right to con- 
sider any measure except what had reference to the elec- 
tion of a Parliament with authority to form a Constitution. 
A committee of fifty was appointed to co-operate with 
the old Diet (^Bundestag) in calling a national Parliament, 
which finally met May 18, 1848, and lasted over a year, un- 
til May 18, 1849, and was called the Frankfort Parliament, 
to distinguish it from one sitting in Berlin and another in 
Vienna. It was composed of five hundred members. 

Terrible riots, originating in Constance, were instigated 



480 Gcrjuany : Her People and Their Story. 

about this time by Struve and Hecker, that threatened 
scenes like tliose which had just occurred in Paris. Tliese 
men were defeated, and forced to leave the country. 
Hecker went to America ; but Struve was caught again 
disturbing the peace, and was taken prisoner. 

There were two parties in the Frankfort Assembly, 
called Little Germany and Great Germany; the former 
favoring the union of all the states except Austria, while 
the latter wished Austria to be included. The old Diet 
was declared abolished by this Assembly, and a provis- 
ional Central Government appointed, with Archduke John 
of Austria as "Imperial Commissioner of the Empire." 
Archduke John, after a reign of eighteen months, resigned 
his office into the hands of four central plenipotentiaries. 

While the Parliament was sitting in Frankfort, an armed 
mob stormed the Church of St. Paul where it was held, 
and two of the Polish members were killed. The dis- 
turbance, which was due to the passions excited by the 
various revolutions, was with difficulty put down ; but 
great harm was done to the national cause, since Prussia 
and Austria grew more severe in their policy, and there 
were soon signs of a general reaction among the people 
against the Revolution. 

On March 4, 1849, a new Constitution was decreed 
by the government, and Austria became a Constitutional 
Monarchy. Prussia had promulgated a Constitution De- 
cember 5, 1848, which was quietly accepted by the people. 

In the German National Assembly a moderate party 
triumphed over the revolutionary faction, and succeeded 
in electing Frederick William IV. Emperor of Germany, 
April 3, 1849. But he declined; since he did not think 
the whole Confederation of States unanimous in their 
desire, and he did not have the backbone to stem the 
tide of opposition. He declared that to accept the title 



Revolt in Hungary. 481 

under such a Constitution would not give him power 
enough to fulfil its duties. His decision was a great dis- 
appointment to all parties ; but had the plan been carried 
out, self-interest would no doubt have afterwards led 
Austria to oppose it. At this time Austria was so ab- 
sorbed in her struggles with Hungary that she would have 
acceded to almost any plan ; but after these difficulties 
were settled, she grew more arrogant than ever, and less 
willing to come to terms. 

During the spring of 1849, the National Assembly 
dwindled down, the representatives of the larger states 
gradually withdrawing, until June 18, 1849, it came to 
an end. ^ 

During the early months of 1849, the Hungarian people, 
who could never forget that they had once been a great 
and independent nation, fought to free themselves from 
the Hapsburg rule. They were led by the Hungarian 
patriot Kossuth, with whom as Dictator they proclaimed 
a republic. Had it not been for differences of opinion 
among themselves, they might have gained complete in- 
dependence from Austria ; since they secured the aid of 
the Italians, and were at first successful. On April 14, 
Kossuth was made President with the support of an 
army of two hundred thousand men. In May the young 
Emperor Francis Joseph appealed to Czar Nicholas at 
Warsaw, who sent a vast Russian army into Hungary 
to support the Austrians ; and Gorgey, the Hungarian 
commander to whom Kossuth had given up the govern- 
ment, capitulated two days after receiving the command. 
Kossuth, with Bem and Dembinski, escaped into exile ; 
but many of the leaders were barbarously put to death 
as traitors by the brutal Haynau, the commander-in-chief 
of the Austrian forces, who made his name infamous for 
all time. 



482 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

The Schleswig-Holstein war also makes up a sad page 
in German history. These Duchies were a cause of strife 
as far back as Charlemagne's time. 

In the fifteenth century, during the reign of the first 
Christian (of Oldenburg), who was the legal heir to 
Schleswig, there was a " Succession Act," which was in 
force four hundred years, establishing the union of Schles- 
wig and Holstein. It was stipulated by this Act that the 
Duchies should never actually be incorporated into the 
kingdom of Denmark. From that time they belonged 
in fief, the one to Denmark, the other to Germany, the 
inhabitants of Holstein being mostly Germans. Hence 
arose the vexed Schleswig-Holstein question. 

In 1773 the Duchies reverted to Denmark, the whole 
of Schleswig having been under the sovereignty of Den- 
mark all along. At this time Peter III. of Russia, who 
succeeded to the throne, was also the direct heir to Hol- 
stein; but by bartering it away to Denmark, the latter 
now possessed both, and the Schleswig-Holstein provinces 
were at peace for three-quarters of a century, during which 
time they made considerable progress in material pros- 
perity. 

In 1846 it appeared that the old Denmark dynasty was 
about to die out. In this case the German population of 
the Duchies counted upon an independent sovereignty in 
the Augustenburg line. Thus they hoped finally to come 
under the sway of Germany. This same year King Chris- 
tian VIII. announced by a proclamation that the succes- 
sion must still remain in the Danish line; and on January 
23, 1848, Frederick VII., King Christian's successor, pro- 
claimed a common Constitution for the Duchies and Den- 
mark, with the exception of certain parts of Holstein. 
Ever since 1848 the Duchies had been emboldened by 
the revolutionary spirit, and they made a grievance of the 



'^League of the Three Kings ^ 483 

fact that the promised Constitution had been deferred. 
They then revolted for the purpose of gaining indepen- 
dence from Denmark. The troops of the German Confed- 
eration assisted tlie Ducliies ; and defeating the Danes at 
Schleswig, they drove them from the country. England 
and Russia, however, at this time intervening, Prussia 
was obliged to give up defending her frontier ; and Den- 
mark then declared her coast-line under blockade, and 
forthwith seized all the Prussian ships. 

At this epoch Prussia was unable to cope with Den- 
mark as a naval power, and therefore could offer no resis- 
tance ; and the matter was settled for the moment by the 
Treaty of Malmo. 

Frederick William IV. had entertained a plan from the 
beginning of the Revolution of creating a German Con- 
federation outside of Austria. The " League of the Three 
Kings," or the Prussian Union, consisting o^ Prussia, Sax- 
ony, and Hanover, was formed, and accepted by the Small 
German party. Seventeen of the smaller German states 
joined it. This league called a national Parliament at 
Erfurt in March, 1850, for the purpose of forming a new 
imperial Constitution ; but the whole plan proved abortive, 
and Saxony and Hanover went over to Austria. Austria 
had protested against the Erfurt Parliament, and threat- 
ened Prussia, declaring that by it she was violating the 
still obligatory Act of Confederation of 18 15. 

On the failure of the '' Three Kings' League," Austria 
proposed another called the "Four Kings' League," con- 
sisting of Saxony, Wiirtemberg, Bavaria, and Hanover. 
It was even suggested that all the countries of the Aus- 
trian Empire should be admitted to the German Confed- 
eration and to the ZoUverein, in which case Austria would 
have the indisputable ascendency. It was evident that 
the nation still aimed to humiliate Prussia. At last 



484 Germajiy : Her People and Their Story. 

Frederick William was obliged to yield, after both sov- 
ereigns had placed armies in the field for the purpose 
of settling difficulties concerning the Electorate of Hesse, 
where Austria had usurped power belonging to Prussia, 
and Count Brandenburg, the Prussian Minister, had failed 
in his negotiations with the Czar Nicholas of Russia, whom 
he had met at Warsaw. Nicholas treated Count Bran- 
denburg cruelly, refusing everything that he asked, and 
granting everything Austria desired. He betrayed Fred- 
erick William IV. as Alexander had done with respect 
to Frederick William IH. at Tilsit. When Count Bran- 
denburg returned to Berlin, he was so affected by his 
disappointment that he is said to have died of a broken 
heart, and in delirium to have demanded vengeance for 
the wrongs inflicted upon his sovereign. His successor, 
Manteuffel, went to Olmiitz on November, 29, 1850, and 
yielded everything to Schwarzenberg. After this the 
Austrian influence was in the ascendency, and was used as 
unscrupulously as Ferdinand U. had used his power. For 
the time the growth and progress of Prussia, which had 
been increasing during the reign of Frederick William IV., 
was interrupted. Although this ruler has been severely 
criticised for the disgrace 6f the surrender at Olmiitz, it 
proved at last to have been the best course, and Bismarck 
in the Chamber openly defended it. Notwithstanding 
Prussia had been obliged to abandon Schleswig-Holstein 
and Hesse-Cassel, the cause of Austria's arrogance, Bis- 
marck, Moltke, and Roon had determined that it should 
only be temporary, and that to yield at the time was 
the only way to secure final success. It has been said 
that through the conferences of Olmiitz, Dresden, and 
Warsaw, victory was gained at Koniggratz, Gravelotte, 
and Sedan. 

After this, at a Conference at Dresden, held from De- 



Prince William as Regent. 485 

cember 23, 1850, to May 15, 1851, the old Bundestag wdiS 
revived, and the Frankfort ParUament abolished by a 
stroke of Schwarzenberg's pen. During the session of 
the Conference in April, 1852, the dissolute life of the 
latter was ended by an apoplectic fit. 

About the time of the Treaty of Malmo, the Schleswig- 
Holstein war had been terminated ; but at a Conference 
in London, May 8, 1852, a new law of succession for 
the King of Denmark, including Schleswig-Holstein, was 
declared, according to which Prince Christian IX. was 
to succeed the childless Frederick VII. Schleswig was 
separated from Holstein, and the Germans in the Duchies 
not acquiescing, this produced a revolution in the latter; 
since the people feared they would soon share the fate of 
Schleswig, which was annexed irrevocably it seemed to 
Denmark. 

In October, 1857, Frederick William IV. had a stroke 
of apoplexy, which resulted in softening of the brain. 
His brother William, Crown Prince of Prussia, assumed 
the government temporarily as regent; and in October, 
1858, he was permanently installed in that office by the 
Diet. 



486 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

PRINCE WILLIAM AS REGENT. WAR BETWEEN AUSTRIA 

AND ITALY. DEATH OF FREDERICK WILLIAM IV. 

WILLIAM I. — Bismarck's policy. — schleswig-hol- 

STEIN WAR. 

1858—1866 A. D. 

PRINCE WILLIAM was born March 22, 1797. While 
a boy he had witnessed the humiliation of the mon- 
archy under Napoleon. His health in early life was 
feeble ; and it was not until the battle of Leipsic that his 
father, Frederick William III., consented to take him with 
the army. He won the Order of the Iron Cross at Bar- 
sur-Aube, and entered Paris with the allies. He advanced 
rapidly in the army to high military rank, and was made 
commander-in-chief by Frederick William IV. Since the 
last humiliation of Prussia at Olmiitz, he had lived in 
retirement at Coblentz. 

The Order of the Iron Cross, which is the most coveted 
war medal in Germany, was founded in the nation's hour 
of distress. Gneisenau conceived the idea in 1811, when 
he was called to Berlin for the purpose of giving advice 
which would save Prussia from the despotism of Napo- 
leon. Gneisenau was superior to Blucher in ability for 
instigating plans and in fertility of resources. He ranked 
only second to Stein in the assistance he gave the state, 
and in the army he held a place beside Scharnhorst. At 
first the Iron Cross was simply a black and white scarf, 
or a national cockade, which was to be worn for the re- 



Prince William as Regent. 487 

mainder of his life by every citizen soldier who had served 
faithfully in the army. The order had been established 
March 10, 18 13, on the birthday of the late idolized 
Queen Louise, and Frederick William then wished the 
decoration to be extended to the whole army for meritori- 
ous service ; at that time he ordered it to consist of pieces 
of black and white ribbon, the Prussian colars, sewed on 
the breast in the form of a cross. On account of the 
inconvenience of using ribbon, metal was required ; and 
in consequence of the poverty of the nation, the cross was 
finally made of iron. 

As soon as William was made Prince Regent, he dis- 
missed the Manteuffel ministry, and established a new 
and more liberal government. The hopes of the German 
people instantly revived when he declared, " Prussia is 
ready everywhere to protect the right." 

In 1859 there arose a dispute between Austria and 
Victor Emmanuel, King of Sardinia. At first public senti- 
ment was divided ; but when Sardinia made an alliance 
with Napoleon III., and the French armies crossed the 
Alps, the danger from French ambition seemed so great 
that Austria took the field, and tried to drag Prussia, as a 
vassal state, into the war. Prussia, now fortified by the 
ability and efforts of Bismarck, Roon, and Moltke, re- 
fused to obey. Austria was defeated at Magenta and 
Solferino, and a cry rang through Germany that the Rhine 
must be defended. Prussia would have yielded, and made 
an alliance with Austria against France, had not Napoleon 
III. instantly concluded a peace with Francis Joseph. In 
i860 all the thrones of the petty Italian states fell, and 
the people united under Victor Emmanuel. Then Prussia 
was blamed for having left Austria without help in this 
great crisis. 

On January 2, 1861, Frederick William IV. died, and 



488 Germany : Her People aiid Their Story. 

his brother, up to this time Prince Regent, became king 
as WilUam I. Ever since his regency, Prussia had been 
advancing slowly in the right direction. Some attempts 
had been made to introduce a constitutional form of 
government, but the people were not yet satisfied. Aus- 
tria was as determined as ever to keep Prussia from con- 
trolling Germany, but the latter was resolved to obtain 
the leadership. On his accession, the king immediately 
began a thorough reorganization of the army, and gave it 
his constant personal supervision. He wished the whole 
nation to take part in military affairs ; and for this purpose 
he lengthened the time of actual service in the reserve, 
while that in the Lamhvehr (regular militia) was short- 
ened. He also established the plan, begun with Stein, and 
still kept up, of enforcing military training without regard 
to class or profession. Still the Diet objected to this 
arrangement; it seemed to them that an increase of the 
army was not necessary, since the cost of a reorganiza- 
tion would be a burden. 

Before the coronation of William I., he was claimed by 
the liberal party as a friend of their principles. When 
he abolished the ceremony of the Huldigung (the oath 
of fealty), the liberal party hoped that he would also do 
away with the coronation ceremony as a thing of the past; 
but the latter took place at Konigsberg, October i8, 1861. 
The king at the time made a speech something as fol- 
lows: "The sovereigns of Prussia receive their crown 
from God. I will to-morrow take the crown from the table 
of the Lord, and place it on my head. It is inviolable. 
The mission of the representatives is to support the king 
by their advice. They will advise me, and I will pay 
due attention to their counsels." 

In September, 1862, Baron Otto von Bismarck-Schon- 
hausen was recalled from St. Petersburg, where he had 



Bismarck in the Federal Diet. 489 

been ambassador, for the purpose of placing him at the 
head of the government. For some reason the idea of 
doing this was postponed for a little time, and he was 
sent as Prussian Minister to Paris. This proved to be 
an event of great consequence, since Bismarck was thus 
enabled to understand the character and to see through 
the plan of Napoleon III. He discerned that the latter 
meant to annex considerable European territory to France, 
and to keep Austria and Prussia engaged in quarrels 
against each other; he also obtained further information 
which helped him in the coming war. 

Bismarck had first become conspicuous in the Federal 
Diet of 1847 ; and after he had returned from Venice, 
Frederick William IV. determined to secure him for his 
service. The flag of the Revolution at this time was float- 
ing over the palaces in Berlin ; the government was over- 
thrown ; and Bismarck, when he took his seat in the second 
Diet, April 2, 1848, was pale with emotion. He made 
a stirring speech, in which he deplored the present disor- 
der, and said, " If you succeed in constructing out of this 
wreck a legally organized Fatherland, then it^will be time 
to thank the person who shall accomplish the task." 
Afterwards Bismarck was sent as minister to the Federal 
Diet at Frankfort, where he learned how to deal with Aus- 
tria. Schwarzenberg little suspected what kind of a man 
it was who had taken his seat in this Parliament. It is 
said Bismarck himself suspected it just as little. Al- 
though he entered this Diet in favor of an absolute mon- 
archy, he gradually learned the truth, and openly changed 
his opinion. He also then perceived that Russia and 
Austria, with Metternich, had betrayed Prussia. 

An amusing anecdote is told about him in connection 
with this Diet and Count Thun, the President of the As- 
sembly, who alone was bold enough to smoke during the 



490 Gennany : Her People and Their Story. 

public sessions. One day, in the presence of the Assem- 
bly, Bismarck walked up to Count Thun with a cigar in 
his hand, and said, "Excellency, may I beg a light?" 
The president was too much astonished to refuse ; and 
Bismarck, after lighting his cigar, puffed out clouds of 
smoke as much at ease as though he had been already 
chancellor of an empire. The fact was reported to all 
the cabinets of Germany, and after this all the represen- 
tatives came to their meetings with their pockets full of 
cigars. 

When William I. sent to recall Bismarck to Berlin from 
Paris, to make him the head of the new Prussian minis- 
try, he found that he had gone to the Pyrenees, and the 
messenger discovered him on the summit of one of these 
mountains enjoying a most magnificent view. He had 
escaped from Louis Napoleon's diplomacy at Biarritz, 
where the latter had invited him for the purpose of gain- 
ing his influence in annexing Belgium to France. 

Metternich was not so heartily hated in Germany as 
Bismarck, particularly when, in 1862, becoming premier, 
he for a time continued his policy of disregarding the 
will of the people as they were represented in the Prus- 
sian Assembly. By his experience in the Federal Diet 
and in Paris, he had gained information which presaged 
war, but concerning which neither the representatives nor 
the people knew. Therefore the latter, not understand- 
ing the danger, did not see the necessity for the new 
measures taken by the government, especially those in- 
volving the expenses of reorganizing and enlarging the 
army. It was soon after he was called to the ministry that 
he made the following speech: "We have now time and 
opportunity to perfect our army. If we neglect it, we are 
lost. Not by speeches and majorities must the great 
questions of our time be decided, but by iron and blood." 



Bismarck's Policy. 491 

The Assembly was then disposed to laugh at his earnest- 
ness, and called him the "blood-and-iron minister." But 
Bismarck had determined to place Prussia at the head 
of United Germany. He regarded it as his mission ; and 
undeterred by any too fine scruples, ''having set up a 
goal, he marched to it by a straight path." 

Although the appropriations for the army were persis- 
tently refused, the government took the money and went 
on reorganizing it. 

Austria improved the time, while Prussia was distracted 
by the constitutional conflict, to increase its influence 
in Germany. Francis Joseph summoned a Congress of 
German princes to meet in Frankfort in August, 1863, 
in order to accept an Act of Reform. By it, in addition 
to a House of Lords, there was to be a Chamber of Depu- 
ties selected by the legislative bodies of the several states, 
one-third by the upper house, and two-thirds by the house 
in which the people were represented. The executive 
power was to be in the hands of a directorate of princes 
under the presidency of Austria. This plot failed, how- 
ever ; since Prussia refused to attend, declaring that the 
first step towards reform must be a Parliament elected by 
the people. 

Bismarck declared afterwards that at this time he stood 
between the penitentiary on one side and the scaffold on 
the other. But he bore his unpopularity as he had borne 
the hisses in the first Assembly in which he spoke. He 
made himself still more disliked by helping to suppress 
an insurrection in Russian Poland, in respect to which 
the sympathy of the German people was largely in favor 
of the insurrection. But he felt that this was political 
wisdom; since had he done otherwise he would have 
made an active enemy of Russia at the moment when 
Austria was preparing for a death struggle with Prus- 



492 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

sia, and Napoleon III. was watching his chance to make 
a spring. 

The last act of King Frederick VII. of Denmark was 
to unite Schleswig to the Danish Monarchy, March 30, 
1863. A few months after he died, and Christian IX. 
ascended the throne as King of the entire Danish 
Monarchy, including Schleswig; he determined to incor- 
porate into Denmark, as soon as he could, Holstein, which 
belonged to the German Confederation through the king, 
who was Duke of Holstein. A revolution now broke out 
in Schleswig-Holstein, and the whole of Germany arose in 
its favor. The Prince of Augustenburg would have been 
the legal heir had not Frederick VII., for a large sum of 
money, renounced the right of the latter. Augustenburg 
now rose in rebellion, and proclaimed himself Frederick 
VIII., Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. The German nation 
demanded that both Duchies should be cut loose from 
Denmark, notwithstanding Christian IX. had accepted a 
Constitution which detached Schleswig from Holstein and 
incorporated it with Denmark. Because Christian IX. 's 
action was a violation of the treaty made in London in 
1852, and also of the Treaty of Malmo in 1848, it gave 
Germany a pretext to interfere. 

On the 7th of December, 1863, the Federal Diet {Bundes- 
tag) decided to take armed possession of the Duchies. 
The Prince of Augustenburg was received in Schleswig- 
Holstein with acclamations of joy ; and an old song, com- 
mencing, — 

" Schleswig-Holstein ! Firmly stand 1 
Yield not, O my Fatherland," 

was sung throughout Germany. Austria and the Federal 
Diet would have been glad to deliver up the Duchies 
to Denmark, according to the agreement signed by the 
Great Powers in London in 1852, in which Austria and 



Schleswig-Holstcin War. 493 

Prussia had concurred, and by which the King of Den- 
mark and his heirs had been given the possession of 
these provinces ; but the Duchies themselves had not 
accepted- the agreement, consequently the smouldering 
embers of discontent had long been ready to burst into 
flame. 

When Austria and Prussia united, in January, 1864, and 
sent an army of forty-three thousand men against Den- 
mark, the Ministry of England withdrew from the quarrel, 
and left the Danes to fight it out alone. They withdrew 
under the subterfuge that the guaranty of England had 
been made jointly with the other powers, and that no one 
was obliged to enforce it without all the allies. The Danes 
were commanded to evacuate Schleswig. The Austrians 
advanced against the " Dannewerk," a fortification fifty 
miles long, extending across Southern Schleswig as a 
defence for the entire peninsula. By the co-operation of 
the Prussians, the Danes were compelled to abandon the 
Dannewerk, and take up a position northward behind the 
Diippel fortification. The latter is strong by nature, and 
also by art ; but the intrenchments were stormed and car- 
ried by the Prussians on the i8th of April, 1864. The 
Austrians meanwhile were victorious at Oversee, in Jut- 
land. At Riigen the Prussian fleet resisted a naval force 
of the Danes much larger than its own. Then England 
invited the five great powers to a conference at London, 
where they tried to divide up Schleswig according to the 
nationality of the people ; but the Danes refused to con- 
sent, and the war was renewed. After this the allied 
troops carried their victories to the extreme point of Jut- 
land, and it was said that the Danes were so overcome by 
their defeats that Denmark was in more danger of being 
incorporated into the Duchies than the Duchies into Den- 
mark. Prince John of Denmark made a hasty journey 



494 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

to Berlin, humbling himself before the King of Prussia, 
and begged for peace. 

The Treaty of Vienna was signed October 30, 1864, in 
which the King of Denmark renounced his right to the 
Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein and Lauenburg in favor 
of the Emperor of Austria and King of Prussia. He 
paid a large sum for the expenses of the war, and pub- 
lished a proclamation declaring the Duchies free. 

The Prince of Augustenburg, however, was not satisfied, 
and resumed his residence at Kiel, establishing a little 
government of his own. At the beginning of the invasion, 
the ostensible purpose had been to place Prince Fred- 
erick of Augustenburg on the ducal throne. He followed 
the invading army to Holstein, where the people welcomed 
him with delight. Bismarck proclaimed that Germany 
held the Duchies in trust for the prince, and recommended 
their union under him. But Prussia demanded of them 
the acceptance of her military system ; that the forts and 
the harbor of Kiel be ceded to her ; that the troops of 
Schleswig-Holstein be made a part of the Prussian army ; 
and that the foreign relations of the Duchies and the 
canal across the peninsula should be under the control 
of Prussia. Prince Frederick refused to submit to these 
conditions, and encouraged by Austria, began to prepare 
for resistance. The smaller states took the part of Aus- 
tria ; and a civil war seemed impending, especially since 
the Prussian people did not altogether support the deci- 
sive policy of Bismarck and his far-reaching plans. 

The storm which hung over the German nation was 
averted for a little while, when on August i, 1865, Wil- 
liam I. met Francis Joseph at Gastein, a watering-place 
in the"" Austrian Alps, and agreed upon a Convention to 
assemble on August 14, 1865. According to the arrange- 
ment decided upon there, Prussia received Schleswig, and 



Schleswig-Holstein War. 495 

by paying a large indemnity, obtained Lauenburg. Aus- 
tria took Holstein, but both nations still held their claim 
to the united provinces. William I. made Bismarck a 
count as a reward for the diplomatic genius displayed in 
conducting the affairs. 

Soon after this the country was so enraged at what they 
considered the despotic measures of Bismarck, that in 
the street called Unter den Linden, a student, wrought 
up to a state of fanaticism, discharged five barrels of a 
revolver in succession, at the breast of the count. Every 
shot missed its mark. The boy's name was Carl Blind, 
the son of an old revolutionist. The country now seemed 
to be sinking into ruin ; business was suspended, and pov- 
erty stared many in the face. Bismarck was pointed at as 
the guilty cause ; since he had said that "blood and iron " 
were the only remedies for Prussia's present disorders, 
and these meant war. 

On March 16, 1866, Austria called on the states allied 
with it to set themselves in readiness to fight. Bismarck 
summoned a meeting of the Federal Diet, and asked them 
to demand that this military force should be furnished. 
Then Prussia declared the Gastein Convention cancelled, 
and invaded Holstein with twenty thousand troops. 
Only Oldenburg, Mecklenburg, and three free cities had 
voted against the measures Austria proposed in the Fed- 
eral Diet. The vote was taken on the 14th of June, 1866, 
and was the last act of the German Federal Diet. Aus- 
tria summoned the Plolstein Diet, but the Prussian troops 
took possession of the Hall and abolished the Duchy. 

This was just what Bismarck desired, and for this pur- 
pose he had been preparing the nation and reorganizing 
the army ; and this was what he meant when he said that 
Prussia's ascendency in the German nation and Austria's 
humiliation could only be brought about by war. 



49^ Germany: Her People mid Their Story. 

The Prussian ambassador, at the time the vote was 
taken in the Federal Diet, had declared the Confederation 
dissolved by its unconstitutional proceedings, and offered 
a Constitution as the basis of a new league with the states 
who were willing to accept it ; thereupon Prussia with all 
these, except Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, Saxony, Darmstadt, 
and Baden, withdrew from the Diet, with the intention of 
establishing a new Confederation or Union from which 
Austria should be excluded. 

Prussia also took the ground that the action of the 
German Diet amounted to a declaration of war, and pro- 
ceeded to set in motion her own troops. The German 
people were stunned by the suddenness of the crisis. 
They thought the struggle needlessly provoked, and a 
desperate resource of the despotic, tyrannical minister, 
Bismarck, who, having found that the Prussian Assembly 
was against him five to one, was determined on any meas- 
ure which would recover for him lost ground. The people 
did not believe that with nineteen million inhabitants 
Prussia could gain the victory over Austria and her allies, 
representing fifty million people. But after they under- 
stood that the war meant the unity of the German nation, 
all political differences were forgotten. 

Prussia had secured a co-operator that afterwards did 
good service in keeping the Austrian army occupied while 
she accomplished the work in hand. In the April pre- 
ceding she had entered into an alliance with Italy, since 
she was reasonably certain that France would interfere 
in behalf of Austria. In 1859 Italy had not gained her 
entire freedom from Austria ; and the prospect of a war, 
which would probably result in the emancipation of all 
Venetia, fired the whole peninsula. 



Austro-Prussian War. 497 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR. KONIGGRATZ. NORTH GERMAN 

CONFEDERATION. — BISMARCK AS CHANCELLOR. 

ILLUSTRIOUS MEN AND GENERALS. 

1866— 1870 A.D. 

THE Austrians were sure of success. Their plan was 
to carry the war into Prussia, take possession of 
Berlin, and there dictate peace, which would terminate 
forever all ideas of Prussian supremacy. Austria would 
then appropriate Silesia ; Prussian Saxony would be 
given back to Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein to Den- 
mark ; William I. of Prussia would be deprived of his 
royal title, and the kingdom be reduced to a Margraviate, 
after paying war expenses and indemnities. 

On June 16 Prussia, with three armies, invaded Hesse, 
Hanover, and Saxony, thus beginning the war. The Aus- 
trians evacuated Holstein early in June. On the 17th of 
the month the Prussian troops occupied Hanover; on 
the 19th Cassel was taken ; and the Elector, who occupied 
Wilhelmshohe, a castle afterwards made so celebrated, 
was taken prisoner, and carried to Stettin. The Hessian 
troops escaped, and joined the Confederation. 

On the 17th of June, Francis Joseph issued a procla- 
mation, declaring that his government had offered no 
provocation to Prussia and Italy, but these powers had 
united in a determination to humiliate and divide what 
had been the Empire. He threw the blame of the Schles- 
wig-Holstein quarrel and the break in the Confederation 



498 Gennany : Her People and Their Story. 

entirely upon Prussia. The neutral powers received this 
state paper as a plausible document. 

On June 18 William I. also published a proclama- 
tion. He stated that the Fatherland was in danger ; that 
he had sought amicable relations with Austria, but its 
princes had grown so arrogant, never forgetting that they 
had once been the leading power of Germany, that they 
treated the rapid growth of Prussia as that of a danger- 
ous rival; that the policy of Austria had been from the 
beginning to weaken and dishonor Prussia. The king 
then referred to the course which he had adopted years 
before in anticipation of the present crisis, which was 
certain to occur, that of reorganizing his army ; and he 
pointed with pride to his people now ready in arms. He 
explained that every effort had been made to find a peace- 
ful solution of the question, but that Austria had defeated 
every plan ; he then appealed to God and the people to 
hold him blameless for the war. He promised, in case 
of victory, to finish the reconstruction of the new Con- 
federation, and declared himself decisively in favor of 
German unity. It had begun to dawn upon the people 
that the plan of Prussia had been all along one arranged 
for the purpose of promoting the general good. 

On June 27 there was a fierce battle near Langen- 
salza, where the troops of King George of Hanover 
were victorious ; but the Prussians being re-enforced, the 
former were compelled to surrender, though winning 
great glory for their bravery. George V. of Hanover 
and the Crown Prince of that principality fled to Vienna; 
but the queen remained in the kingdom under the pro- 
tection of the Prussians, the troops being sent home. 

The three Prussian divisions next marched against 
Austria ; the first Silesian army, under Frederick Charles, 
taking a southeasterly direction; the second Silesian 



Aiistro-Pnissian War. 499 

regiments were under Crown Prince Frederick William, 
afterwards Emperor Frederick ; and the third was com- 
manded by General Herwarth von Bittenfeld, and fol- 
lowed the course of the Elbe. The entire force was two 
hundred and sixty thousand men, with seven hundred and 
ninety pieces of artillery. The Prussian armies advanced 
over difficult mountain paths, and wound through long, 
narrow valleys in four separate columns. But they met 
no enemy there. The Austrian general, Benedek, awaited 
them at a junction in the level country, where the Prus- 
sians were afterwards successful. 

The 27th of June had been a day obserA'ed by the 
Prussians as a period of fasting and prayer throughout 
the land. The battle of Langensalza, and those of 
Trautenau and Nachod, were fought on this very same 
day. At Trautenau the Austrians under Benedek were 
victorious over the Crown Prince, but at Nachod they 
were routed, and on the 28th the Prussians recovered all 
that had been lost; the road as far as Kdniginhof was 
covered with the wounded, and strewn with knapsacks, 
arms, wagons, and encumbered with crowds of fugitives. 
On the 30th of June the Crown Prince of Germany 
reached Koniginhof, and it was captured. On the same 
day the news of the victory was spread through the 
kingdom, and Bismarck, from being the abused and cen- 
sured minister, becanje the idol of the people; to his fine 
diplomacy, the discipline and steadfastness of the sol- 
diers, and to the Dreysa needle-gun, the victories were 
due. The perseverance of the king in carrying out the 
reorganization of the army was now appreciated, and 
met the approval of the people. A^'on Roon, the Minis- 
ter of War, and Moltke also shared the honors of the 
victory. 

King William, accompanied by Bismarck, Moltke, and 



500 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

Roon, with three great armies, appeared in Bohemia, hav- 
ing cut their way through every opposition. In some of 
the smaller towns the inhabitants had joined in battle, 
firing from the windows and roofs, and pelting the Prus- 
sian troops with bricks and stones, and pouring down 
upon them boiling water and oil, while the soldiers, infu- 
riated by such treatment, broke into the houses and mas- 
sacred every one they met. 

The Austrians under Benedek and Count Clam-Gallas 
concentrated their troops, two hundred and twenty thou- 
sand, at Sadowa and Koniggratz on the Elbe. William 
I., Bismarck, Moltke, and Roon had arrived at Konigin- 
hof on the 2d of July; and it was decided to advance to 
meet Benedek and Clam-Gallas, who were awaiting battle 
at Koniggratz. The engagement was hastened on account 
of demonstrations indicating that Benedek meant to com- 
mence the attack before the Crown Prince could reach 
the field. 

The eyes of all nations were turned towards the little 
village of Sadowa, on the 3d of July, 1866. On each 
side there were half a million men, the largest number 
ever, until then, engaged on a battlefield in a civilized 
land. 

A broad, level valley favored the manoeuvres of the 
armies; while as a position for the bulk of the Austrian 
forces, the undulating hills above, with their ravines and 
patches of woodland, were chosen. Their situation was 
most advantageous, the only drawback being that the Elbe 
was behind, cutting off the retreat. The Prussians were 
inferior in number, but superior in discipline, energy, and 
intelligence. 

King William appeared in the field at eight o'clock in 
the morning, and at that hour the attack began. The 
details of the battle are among the most interesting on 



Anstro-Prussian War. 501 

record. It has been compared with Waterloo in arrange- 
ment and effect, only at Koniggratz the Prussians were 
obliged to take the offensive, and to hold Sadowa, keep- 
ing the whole Austrian army engaged until the Crown 
Prince had time to arrive. The latter was many miles 
away, but had been informed by an adjutant, during the 
hours of the night before, of the plans and the part he 
was to take. 

It was a bloody and terrible struggle, which continued 
until noon without intermission or success. Eager glances, 
like those which Wellington had given when he looked 
around in search of Bliicher, were now cast to the left 
in the direction from which the Crown Prince was to 
appear. When at eight o'clock the thunder of his cannon 
announced that he had arrived, all the Prussian reserves 
were brought up, and an advance was made along the 
whole line. They pressed on from village to village, 
making Chlum their objective point. The Austrian right 
and left were broken; they were thrown into confusion, 
and rushed in disordered masses back toward the Elbe ; 
the retreat became a rout. 

Towards evening the sun came out, and through the 
clouds the towers of Koniggratz shone bright and clear, 
and fugitives and pursuers hastened to that point as if 
they both expected to find a glad retreat behind the 
battlements of that stronghold. The king and Crown 
Prince met on the battlefield and embraced, while the 
army struck up the same old hymn, "Nun danket alle 
Gottr The song had before been heard at Leuthen, at 
Leipsic, and Waterloo; it awoke the echoes at Sadowa; 
it was yet to be heard at Gravelotte and Sedan. 

When William I. and Bismarck met Crown Prince 
Frederick on the battlefield, the king offered the latter 
the " Order of Merit." The prince refused with charac- 



502 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

teristic modesty, unless it was at the same time bestowed 
upon his chief of staff, General von Blumenthal. Eleven 
flags, one hundred and twenty-four cannon, and eighteen 
thousand prisoners had been taken by the Prussians. 
The army immediately moved forward. Prague was taken 
July 8, Brunn and the famous Olmiitz, July 15, and the 
Prussians within two weeks encamped twelve miles from 
Vienna. In the meantime the Bavarians and other allies 
of the Austrians had been driven out of Frankfort, and 
a struggle had been commenced at Wiirzburg. 

Austria gave way, an armistice was concluded at Ni- 
cholsburg on the 27th of July, and the Seven Weeks' War 
was at an end. In the space of a fortnight the Austrian 
power was broken, the actual fighting only lasting seven 
days. The treaty of peace signed at Prague on the 23d 
of August, 1866, gave the leadership of Germany to 
Prussia; and all the world understood that the possession 
of Schleswig-Holstein had not been the definite purpose 
of the war. By the Peace of Prague, Austria recognized 
the dissolution of the old German Confederation, and 
agreed to the reorganization of Germany without Austria. 
She surrendered Schleswig-Holstein to Prussia, and paid 
twenty million thalers for the expenses of the war. She 
also agreed to the demand made by Prussia that Venice 
should be ceded to Italy through Napoleon ; for the next 
day after the news of the battle of Koniggratz, when it 
was known what reverses Austria had experienced, hoping 
to strengthen her position, the latter had ceded Venice 
by telegraph to the Emperor of France. It was for 
Venice that Italy had made an alliance with Prussia, and 
both together had brought the war to a successful end. 
By a treaty of peace with Italy, October 3. 1866, Austria 
abandoned all claim to Venice, and recognized the new 
kingdom of Italy. Napoleon III. consented to the set- 



The North German Coiifedcration. 503 

ting up of this kingdom, and to the terms of the Treaty 
of Prague, because he thought that he was establishing 
a North and South Germany, and that the enmity between 
Austria and Prussia would be an irreconcilable feud. 

Schleswig-Holstein, the Kingdom of Hanover, the 
Electorate of Hesse-Cassel, the Duchy of Nassau, the 
Margraviate of Hesse-Homburg, and the free city of 
Frankfort, were incorporated into Prussia. There was no 
possibility of avoiding the annexation of the Duchies to 
Prussia; since she could allow them to fall neither into 
the hands of Denmark nor Austria, nor could the Prince 
of Augustenburg be allowed to rule them independently, 
since they had all along desired a union with Germany. 
But any fancied wrong to the duke was made up in Feb- 
ruary, 1881, by the marriage of his daughter, Princess 
Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, to Prince William 
of Prussia, grandson of Emperor William I., son of the 
Crown Prince of Prussia, and to-day Emperor of Germany. 
Thus the daughter of the neglected Duke of Augusten- 
burg became Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, as well as 
Queen of Prussia, and finally Empress of Germany. 

After the war, Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, Baden, and Hesse- 
Darmstadt made separate treaties, paying for war ex- 
penses, and forming a union with each other under the 
name of the South German States. Bismarck feared that 
if he demanded large cessions of territory they might ask 
the intervention of Napoleon HI. To avoid this he re- 
vealed to them confidentially the secret plan of Napoleon 
HI., and thus detached the Southern States from the 
latter entirely by guaranteeing that they should suffer loss 
of territory neither from France nor Prussia. Germany 
was now separated into three parts, — the North German 
Confederation, the South German States, and the German 
population still remaining in Austria. 



504 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

The first Diet of the North German Confederation was 
held February 24, 1867 ; it was elected by direct univer- 
sal suffrage. Count Bismarck was appointed Chancellor. 
A great revulsion of feeling had taken place among the 
members called to it. The proud conservative feudal 
faction had almost disappeared in the enthusiasm which 
the national and liberal party gave to William I. and Bis- 
marck. The latter did not change in his character, and 
personally he grew hardly less haughty and aristocratic ; 
but the ruling passion of his life continued to be the 
greatness and influence of Prussia, and he knew that the 
strength of the opposition could only be guided by a 
liberal policy. The people of Germany, in their joy at 
the great victories, which they felt that Bismarck had been 
primarily the means of bringing about, forgot that he had 
ever been anything but on their side of politics. Before 
the end of 1866 the new Diet had accepted all the acts 
of the government, which at one time seemed so doubtful, 
and promised an indemnity for expenditures in excess of 
appropriations voted on the preceding September. The 
king, on the other hand, in his gratitude for the unani- 
mous assistance of the people, granted a general amnesty 
for all political offences. 

Prussia had added to its sovereignty nearly five million 
people and twenty-five thousand square miles of territory, 
while its influence in Europe was increased incomparably 
more than its area. In the flag chosen for the new Con- 
federation, red was added to the white and black of the 
old Prussian colors, and the organization as a whole was 
the harbinger of the new German Empire. 

Europe had been taken by surprise by the Prussian 
victories ; her far-reaching policy and success in healing 
the breach with the other German states, and so speedily 
bringing them all into a permanent National Union, was 



TJie North German Confederation. 505 

still more unexpected. The sovereignty of Saxony had 
been guaranteed after the war, whereupon she joined the 
North German Confederation, paying ten million thalers 
for war expenses. 

At the conclusion of the North German Parliament, 
April 17, all the military forces of these states, together 
with the diplomatic control of their foreign affairs, and 
their post-offices and telegraph system, were placed under 
the supreme command of Prussia. The Confederation 
then included all the states except Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, 
and Baden, and numbered in all, twenty-two. A little later 
the three above-mentioned South German States, together 
with Hesse-Darmstadt, entered into treaties of offensive 
and defensive alliance with Prussia ; and their policy 
towards the latter was ever after so conciliatory that all 
hostility created by the war was forgotten. At the ad- 
journment of the North German Parliament, the king 
said that the time had come when "the German Father- 
land can maintain its peace, its rights, and its dignity with 
its united forces." 

The benefits which this new union was able to confer 
on the German states soon became apparent in all the 
legislation and administration of government and trade. 
Foreign nations, as well as the people who had been an- 
nexed and those communities which had been the most 
hostile, soon recognized the fact. The benefits of the 
Zollverein became more obvious, and there was only a 
small party in South Germany that afterwards ever opposed 
the policy of the Union. 

Austria at first showed a disposition to continue her 
policy of resistance to Prussia, but gradually became more 
conciliatory. Realizing that she was forever excluded 
from Germany, she reconstructed her shattered Empire 
under the name of Austro-Hungary, — Austria an Empire 



5o6 Germany: Her People a7id Their Story. 

with a ministry and imperial council at Vienna; Hungary 
a constitutional kingdom, with a Hungarian ministry and 
Parliament at Ofen-Pesth. 

Germany was now, after many centuries of disorder and 
upheaval, a great and recognized power in Europe. King 
William I. had shown remarkable skill, as well as personal 
disinterestedness, in the management of the government, 
especially in gathering around him the ablest men in 
every department of its administration. His son, the 
Crown Prince Frederick William, was very popular, and 
was a great source of strength to the throne. He was an 
only son, born in 183 1, while his father was the Prince 
of Prussia; his mother, Augusta, was the daughter of 
Charles Augustus, Duke of Weimar, the prince who called 
around him so many eminent literary men, among them 
Goethe and Schiller, whose united monuments now adorn 
the streets of the still classic Weimar. She herself was 
highly intellectual, partaking of the culture of her early 
surroundings. 

King William I. was supported on every side by princes 
and members of influential ruling families, many of whom 
had great military reputation. Prince Frederick Charles, 
the king's nephew, was the favorite of the army, and, as 
has been seen, showed great skill in the war with Austria, 
as well as afterwards in the contests with Louis Napoleon. 
Albert, the Crown Prince of Saxony, Prince William of 
Baden, Prince Augustus of Wiirtemberg, the Duke of 
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the Grand Dukes of Oldenburg and 
of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, served in 1866 on the Prussian 
side. Prince William of Baden and Prince Augustus of 
Wiirtemberg were the two South German princes who were 
foremost in securing the union of the Southern and North- 
ern States. 

But the man who, along with Bismarck, gained the 



Illustrious Men and Generals. 507 

most credit in the war with Austria and the war of 1870 
with France, was Baron Helmuth von Moltke. He was 
born October 26, 1800, in Mecklenburg. He was edu- 
cated at Copenhagen. In 1822 he left the service of 
Denmark, and entered the army of Prussia as a lieutenant. 
Having studied the science of war in Europe and Asia, 
when Napoleon HI. opened hostilities against Austria, 
Moltke planned a campaign in France ; but when Aus- 
tria carried on the contest without Prussia, he went into 
winter quarters with the Austrian army, and wrote his 
classical work upon "The Italian Campaign of 1859." 
Up to this time von Moltke was little known outside of 
military circles. After this he became the organizer of 
the armies of the North German Confederation, and de- 
voted himself to the cause of Kingdom and Empire. He 
had great coolness, and ability to grasp firmly the outlines 
of the situation, and to separate important issues from a 
mass of details ; he also had the power of acting with the 
greatest courage and vigor, while at the same time he 
executed with the profoundest deliberation. 

Albert von Roon, the Minister of War in 1866, had 
been carefully educated for a commander, and was in- 
trusted with the details of uniting and bringing the army 
up to a state of efficiency which made it recognized as the 
first army of Europe. Von Roon always took a straight- 
forward course, uninfluenced by praise or blame. 

Bismarck, as Chancellor, may be said to have reaped 
where he had sown the fully ripened grain of popular 
favor. He ranked, in the esteem of the nation, with Stein, 
who lived too soon for his advanced views to find a foster- 
ing soil ; but he and Scharnhorst had prepared the ground 
for the harvest which, when gathered, Bismarck's great 
mind and practical skill, guided by inflexible devotion to 
his king and country, soon wrought into a Fatherland. 



5o8 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER L. 

EVENTS PRIOR TO THE WAR WITH FRANCE. 
1858—1870 A.D. 

LOUIS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE became military 
y Dictator of France, December 2, 185 1 ; and having 
gained entire control of the army, he intimidated the 
people into making him Emperor, as Napoleon III., De- 
cember 2, 1852. 

After the war of Prussia with Austria, when the rest 
of Europe accepted the changes in Germany, if not with 
approval, with complacency, the French people felt them- 
selves humiliated, and were filled with jealousy at Prussia's 
rising power. For many years after Napoleon became 
Emperor, his victories in the Crimean War and in Italy 
held the people spellbound, until they thought they had 
another great Napoleon who would bring renewed glory to 
the French name. But in later years fortune had turned 
against Napoleon III. The Empire he had set up in 
Mexico, in defiance of the United States, under the rule 
of Maximilian, brother of Francis Joseph, had, thanks to 
the stern protest of the great republic, the warlike prepa- 
rations of General Grant, and the stubborn resistance of 
the patriotic Mexicans, come to naught, after the sacri- 
fice of thousands of lives, including that of the usurper 
Maximilian himself. 

On August 6, 1866, a note from the French cabinet was 
received at Berlin demanding the restoration of the French 
frontier, fixed by the first Peace of Paris in 18 14, as a 



Events Prior to the War with France. 509 

compensation to France for the recent aggrandizement of 
Prussia ; that is, Napoleon wished to dismember Belgium, 
and to appropriate Saarlouis, Saarbriicken, and Landau, 
for the purpose of restoring the " balance of power." In 
view of the fact that her army of six hundred thousand 
men had never disbanded, and that France could not 
muster half that number, Prussia felt justified in rejecting 
the proposition at once, and Napoleon III. was obliged to 
submit. 

Koniggratz was almost as great a defeat to Napoleon 
III. as to Austria. Napoleon had wished Austria and 
Prussia to engage in a long struggle, and in the end he 
hoped to be called in as an arbiter. He could at one 
time have crushed Prussia had he not wished to see both 
parties weakened. After the contest was over, he hoped 
to see Germany cut up into three antagonistic powers ; 
Prussia only controlling the North German States, Aus- 
tria still remaining in the ascendency, and the smaller 
German states in an organization ready at any time to 
unite with him. His rage knew no bounds when he saw 
the Seven Weeks' War ended before he had thought it 
fairly begun. 

Napoleon's hopes had also been disappointed in Italy. 
He had only proclaimed freedom to the Adriatic to obtain 
Savoy and Rome. Then he intended to place a Bona- 
parte in the Papal chair. He hoped above all things to 
prevent both Germany and Italy from obtaining real free- 
dom and unity. One of his disappointments had been in 
failing to form an alliance with the South German States ; 
instead of this, he saw them engaged in an offensive 
and defensive alliance with the North German Confede- 
ration. The war with Austria and its results had not only 
frustrated his ambition, but it had injured his fame, and 
■placed France in an unfavorable light. 



5IO Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

Napoleon III. was now over sixty years old, and had 
become himself too cautious to attack Prussia ; but the 
French people were aroused to the highest pitch of indig- 
nation at Prussia's ascendency. Napoleon was accused 
of permitting Germany to unite, and to become a rival 
power. Therefore Napoleon yielded, and waited for a 
pretext to declare war. 

So well had the Prussian government understood the 
policy of Napoleon III., that they had long expected strife. 
Moltke had devoted the winter of 1869 to planning and 
arranging, in order that at a moment's notice the move- 
ments of the army could commence. 

On June 30 Ollivier, one of the French Ministry, de- 
clared in the Legislative Assembly at Paris that peace had 
never been more secure in Europe than at that moment. 
But about this time the French journals began to talk ex- 
citedly of a negotiation between the Spanish Minister, 
President Prim, and Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern ; 
the object of the negotiation was to place the latter on 
the Spanish throne, made vacant in 1868 by the expulsion 
of the Bourbon queen, Isabella. Prince Leopold of Ho- 
henzollern was a distant relative of William I. of Prussia ; 
but he was also connected closely with the Bonaparte 
family through his wife, who was the daughter of the 
Grand Duchess Stephanie Beauharnais. 

On the 6th of July, Napoleon's minister, the Duke of 
Gramont, declared to the French Assembly that this 
choice would never be tolerated. Instantaneously the 
word was flashed across the wire to Count Benedetti, the 
French minister to the Court of Berlin, who was then at 
the baths of Wildbad in Wiirtemberg, that he should ask 
an explanation at Berlin concerning the candidature of 
Prince Leopold, which had been established without the 
consent of the French. On the same day, in a personal 



Events Prior to the War with France. 511 

interview, Ollivier informed Werther, the Prussian minis- 
ter, that the Spanish candidature might lead to war. 
Whereupon Werther, without thinking of the importance 
of the act, promised to support the demand of the French 
government for a written apology. When Bismarck re- 
ceived the despatch, he instantly recalled Werther, and 
France considered this another pretext for war. 

Meanwhile Benedetti consulted the king, and asked 
him why he had not prevented Prince Leopold from 
accepting the offer. William I., who had gone to Ems to 
seek rest and health, being then a man of seventy-four 
years of age, received the French minister cordially, and 
told him that he had already advised Prince Leopold not 
to accept, but that he had no right to command. Al- 
though the crown had been repeatedly offered before he 
accepted it, Prince Leopold, fearing trouble on account 
of his candidature, immediately afterwards resigned. At 
first the French ministry and even Napoleon expressed 
themselves satisfied, and the French journals spoke of 
the affair as a triumph which France had achieved over 
Prussia. 

But some mysterious power, some say it was the influ- 
ence of the Pope, some say of the Empress, fanned the 
dying embers again into flame. A war council was held 
in Paris presided over by the Emperor, and it was decided 
to send Benedetti back to Ems ; for both monarch and 
people, urged on by Empress Euge'nie and the Duke de 
Gramont, were bent upon a quarrel. The fact of it was 
that the whole Assembly had worked itself up into a fury, 
and had made it the occasion of an insult, that the King 
of Prussia had permitted the Hohenzollern to accept the 
candidature without first consulting France. Benedetti 
was commanded to use no ceremony with the king, and 
to obtain from him an apology, written with his own 



512 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

hand, and a promise that no Hohenzollern should ever 
after accept the throne of Spain. 

After having hastened back to Ems, ahnost the first 
man Benedetti met on the public promenade was King 
William himself. The dignity and affability of the latter 
made it extremely difficult for the former to offer the 
insult demanded by France; and so, with much gesticula- 
tion, and many bows and false smiles, he finally made the 
venerable old monarch comprehend what Napoleon re- 
quired. As soon as King William I. understood what 
the proposition really was, he looked at him a moment in 
astonishment, and then turned upon his heel and walked 
away, leaving the ambassador still standing there. A 
square flagstone marks the spot at Ems where this inter- 
view took place ; it is facetiously called the corner-stone 
of the present German Empire. 

This was on the 13th of July, 1870 ; on the i6th, the 
king returned to Berlin. The Crown Prince, Moltke, and 
Roon met him at the Brandenburg Station ; and the first 
Council of War was held in a railroad car. King Wil- 
liam then learned for the first time that Benedetti's dis- 
missal by him had been considered an attack on the 
national honor, and that France had declared war. As 
they passed through the Brandenburg Gate, and along 
the streets, the royal carriage containing these notable 
persons could scarcely proceed, the people were so aroused 
at the indignity offered Prussia ; for it seemed to them 
it was a band of brigands that had sprung at the throats 
of their ministry and king. The multitude kept around 
the palace so late that the king caused a request mildly 
to be given that the people should disperse ; since he had 
weighty business with the war minister, which would last 
through the night. The words were affectionately passed 
through the crowd of thousands, "The king wants si- 



Events Prior to the War with France. 5 1 3 

lence ; " and in a few moments afterwards the great 
frightened city fell into solitude and stillness. That night 
the Assembly was convoked, and arrangements made for 
mobilizing the army. 

On the 19th of June, 1870, the Diet of the North Ger- 
man Confederation met, and placed the military resources 
of the nation at the service of the government. On the 
same day a formal declaration of war by France was 
received in Berlin. The account of his interview with the 
king on the promenade at Ems, which Benedetti had tel- 
egraphed to Paris, left the war party without any pretext 
which seemed reasonable on which to base a quarrel. 
Soon afterwards, however, they learned that Bismarck 
had communicated to the European Cabinets an account 
of the refusal of the king to receive Benedetti. Enemies 
of Bismarck assert that the latter desired the French to 
declare war, knowing that Prussia could never obtain an 
independent position in Europe until France had been 
beaten. His enemies even said, and he has since con- 
fessed, that he instigated secretly some one to send a de- 
spatch to Paris, to the effect that their ambassador had 
been insulted, in order to arouse the war party to decisive 
action. In any case, France was inflamed to the highest 
degree by gross misrepresentations. There was a great 
cry. People from towns outside and in Paris went 
through the streets singing the Marseillaise, and shouting, 
" Down with Prussia ! Long live the war ! Leipsic 1 
Waterloo ! The French frontier ! " Not many months 
afterwards they understood better what this war-cry 
meant, when, instead of the nation engaging in hostilities 
with Russia, Mexico, and China, war was at their very 
door, and their children were crying for bread. 

It was universally believed in France that every prepa- 
ration had been made, and that the army was ready and 



514 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

fully equipped for an immediate campaign ; but the im- 
portance of Prussia as a nation, and the strength and 
efficiency to which the army had been raised, were not 
yet understood. Napoleon III. counted on getting the 
start of Prussia, and detaching the Southern German 
States entirely from the Union, and also upon the revolt 
of Hesse, Hanover, and Saxony. He also depended 
upon the arms which had lately been furnished the 
French, including the Chassepot rifles, and the mitrail- 
leuse, and also upon his Zouaves, Turkos, and African 
troops. The idea also was still uppermost that the 
French were the most powerful and civilized nation, and 
destined to be " Master of the World." 

The Declaration of War caused the greatest alarm 
among the German people. The name Napoleon was a 
terror still ; and it was the general opinion that Napoleon 
HI. and his army would soon be in Berlin, and that a 
period of oppression, such as she had suffered from 1806 
to 18 13, was again to be their fate. They thought they 
could even now see the new arms, of which the French 
had boasted so much, mowing the Prussians dovv'n. The 
French had expected sympathy from England, and help 
from Italy, Denmark, and Austria; and, in their wild ex- 
citement, there was a general cry that on the 15th of 
August the birthday of Napoleon I. would be celebrated 
in Berlin. 

When Germany heard this threat the whole nation rose 
as one man. For the first time in history North and South, 
Bavarian and Hanoverian, Prussian and Hessian, Saxon 
and Westphalian, joined hands, and stood side by side. 
The spirit of the people was aroused to a white heat, and 
every one was resolved to die rather than see Germany 
again under the iron heel of France. More than a million 
men took the field in defence of the Fatherland. The 



Events Prior to the War with France. 5 1 5 

alarm they had felt began immediately to subside ; and 
the people, even at this hour, began to sing, " Firm 
stands and faithful the watch on the Rhine " {Die Wacht 
am Rheiii). 

In this war there were no alliances; it was simply 
Germany on the one side and France on the other. 
Napoleon's hope of securing assistance failed, for it was 
soon proved that the universal readiness of the French 
army was a delusion. Not nearly the number of men 
could be raised that had been promised. Instead of 
Germany being taken by surprise, with the detachment of 
a part of her states from the Union, and the Confede- 
ration of the Southern States, in eleven days the Germans 
were organized into three armies, and on the way before 
the French had thought of crossing the frontier. The 
three great divisions of the German army were led by 
Steinmetz, Prince Frederick Charles, and the Crown 
Prince Frederick William. These three generals had 
between six hundred thousand and a million men. They 
advanced towards the boundary from Treves to Landau. 

The- swiftness and vigor of the German preparations 
contrasted strongly with the irresolution at the French 
headquarters. But at last the French army advanced in 
the following order : Marshal MacMahon with the first 
corps was to march to Strasburg ; the second division, 
under General Failly, had for its objective point Bitsch; 
the third, under Marshal Bazaine, was directed on Metz ; 
General Ladmirault commanded the fourth section, 
which was to take a stand at Thionville; Marshal Can- 
robert and General Bourbaki commanded the reserves, at 
Chalons, Belfort, and Nancy respectively. 

On July 28 Napoleon III. appointed the Empress 
Eugenie regent, and with his son, fourteen years of age, 
left the Tuileries as commander-in-chief. Neither of 



5i6 Germany: Her People and TJieir Story. 

them was ever to see this palace again. Since the readi- 
ness of the army had been overestimated, the French 
changed their plan of invasion into that of defence. 

As the two sovereigns approached the battlefield, each 
published a proclamation. The drift of that of Napoleon 
was that he had taken command in order to unfold the 
same glorious banner which had already carried through 
Europe the liberal ideas of the great French Revolution. 
It had become necessary to resist Prussia's thirst for con- 
quest and annexation, and the extensive war preparations 
of that nation which had transformed Europe into a 
military camp must be met and offset by similar ma- 
noeuvres. A great people was about to defend a just 
cause, and the army led into Germany would behold and 
tread in the footsteps of their fathers; since freedom and 
civilization depended upon their success, the god of war 
would be with them. 

In order to gain inspiration for the mighty work before 
him, Emperor William, before he issued his war procla- 
mation, repaired to Charlottenburg, and visited the tomb 
of his immortalized mother. His proclamation was to this 
effect : that the Omnipotent and Almighty God, who in 
Prussia's hour of sorest need had never forsaken her, 
would grant the prayer of faith which the army and nation 
were now uplifting to him. He then ordered a universal 
day of prayer with worship in the churches, and at the 
same time made a special request that, during the whole 
war, petitions should be sent up daily in the house of God 
that victory might crown the efforts of the army, that they 
might receive a Christian spirit to deal mercifully with 
their enemies, and that peace might permanently guar- 
antee the honor and independence of Germany. At the 
same time William I. issued the following proclamation 
to the army : " I this day take command of the whole 



Events Prior to the War ivitJi France. 517 

army, and enter with confidence upon a conflict In which 
our fathers have already before been gloriously victorious. 
God the Lord will be with us in our righteous cause." 

The only instance during the war when the French troops 
stood upon German soil was at Saarbriicken, August 2, 
1870. Here the French general, Frossard, made at attack 
on Colonel Pestel with four squadrons and two battalions. 
The little defensive force of only eighteen hundred cav- 
alry was obliged to withdraw before this considerable 
body of troops under Frossard ; but Napoleon sent a 
bulletin of victory to the Empress, reporting the battle as 
his son's "baptism of fire." Under his father's direction 
the boy had applied the match to the first mitrailleuse 
fired. The deadly missile, however, did not touch a man ; 
and the soldiers against whom it had been directed waved 
their helmets in the air, and gave three cheers for King 
William. Such a victory was the only triumph Napoleon 
gained throughout the war. It was a peculiarity, not only 
in this battle, but in all of the successes of both of the 
Napoleons, that the French astonishingly exaggerated 
their victories, while the Germans nearly always under- 
estimated the importance of their conquests. 

The first triumph for the Germans was at Weissenburg, 
a fortified French town thirty-four miles from Strasburg, 
on August 4. The Crown Prince Frederick William 
attacked the French general, Douay, with a division of 
General MacMahon's army. The battle lasted from nine 
until two o'clock. The French were forced back to the 
Gaisberg, which was supposed to be impregnable ; but 
the old castle was stormed and taken, and the French 
repulsed, with the loss of one thousand prisoners and 
twelve hundred killed and wounded. General Douay 
was among the killed. 

General MacMahon concentrated his whole force on a 



5 1 8 Gej^many : Her People and Their Story. 

strong position near the village of Worth, eleven miles 
south of Weissenberg. He had every facility for holding 
his ground, and he hoped to cheer his countrymen with 
news of a victory such as France had known in the days 
of the great Napoleon. The passes of the Vosges were 
before him, and there were forests and steep acclivities 
planted with batteries on which the German army, it 
seemed to him, were hopelessly marching; but in spite 
of the apparent foresight of MacMahon, the Crown Prince 
had collected all his forces before that general was ready 
to receive them. The French maintained their position 
nobly; but the Germans steadily advanced, attacking each 
fortified house, and disputing every inch of the way. The 
Germans lost ten thousand, and the French eight thou- 
sand, with four thousand prisoners. 

At night MacMahon's defeat turned into a panic, part 
of his army flying toward the Vosges mountains, and a 
part to Strasburg. Two divisions of cuirassiers, in heavy 
armor and mounted on powerful horses, were sent to 
make the attack, and to save the remnant if put to flight. 
Like the Imperial Guard, these brave men were always 
saved for the decisive moment, and their charge formed 
the culminating point of the day. But in this battle the 
Prussian fire was maintained with terrible effect, till these 
splendid men, about two thousand in number, were cut 
to pieces, and all went down except about one hundred 
and fifty. MacMahon was so overcome by their loss that 
a. kind of delirium seized him ; and when asked, "Where 
are your cuirassiers?" he wildly replied: "What cuiras- 
siers ? I have no cuirassiers." 

The roads and fields were covered with knapsacks, 
weapons, and other objects cast away. The Germans 
seized the carriage of MacMahon with all his documents, 
his tent, containing, among other articles, ladies' dresses, 




Sources of C.kkman ^o\v^;R. 

Charles V. 
II 'UUam I. 
Wi/Ztam II. 



Guttenbers;- 



KiJrner. 



Events Prior to the War luit/i Fi-ance. 519 

and three hundred and sixty thousand francs in gold. 
The discovery of MacMahon's effects made the soldiers 
laugh ; but sometimes they found mementoes, while look- 
ing over the field covered with the dead and dying, which 
made many a brave soldier's eyes fill with tears ; as for 
instance, an affectionate daughter writes to her father, 
saying : " I hope God will preserve thy life and bring thee 
home, so that thou mayst again infold thy daughter in 
thine arms." This was found tightly grasped in the dead 
father's hand. 

This victory at Worth insured Alsace permanently to 
the Germans ; but it had been bought at the price of 
nearly eleven thousand men, among them about five hun- 
dred officers. On the same day of this battle, Steinmetz 
stormed the heights of Spicheren near Saarbriicken, 
where General Frossard had intrenched himself. The 
position was considered so impregnable that the French 
officers laughed when they saw the Germans preparing 
to assault it. Those in the fortresses poured upon them 
showers of shot and shell. Some of the bodies were 
pierced with five bullet-holes. During the hours when 
the courage of the most heroic souls almost gave way, 
the voice of an old soldier was heard saying facetiously, 
"If this goes on much longer, we shall be in danger of 
our lives." Even in these grim surroundings the remark 
was received with peals of laughter, and all went on with 
the assault with new vigor. At evening the intrench- 
ments were stormed, and General Frossard ordered a 
retreat which came very near being a rout. Some days 
afterwards, William I., on viewing the heights, said to 
the soldiers, "But, children, it is absolutely impossible 
for any troops to fight their way up these heights." 
— " Quite true, your Majesty, it was indeed impossible. 
Nevertheless, we did it." 



520 Gcr7nany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER LI. 

FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR. — GRAVELOTTE. — SEDAN. — SUR- 
RENDER OF STRASBURG AND METZ. 

1870 A.D. 

IN Paris the effect of the news concerning the great 
defeat to their armies was most terrible, since, as 
usual, the French had been deceived by false reports of 
victory; for on August 5 the town was in a frenzy of 
delight with the tidings that MacMahon and Bazaine had 
routed the army of the Crown Prince, that they had taken 
two hundred and fifty thousand prisoners, that the Crown 
Prince and forty thousand Prussians were killed, and 
that MacMahon was marching on to Frankfort. When, 
however, the French people learned the truth, they were 
in a rage. They went about the streets crying. " Down 
with the Cabinet ! Down with Ollivier ! Down with 
Gramont ! " The Cabinet was broken up ; and General 
Palikao was chosen in Ollivier's place, and given author- 
ity to appoint a new cabinet in place of the one from 
which all members had been removed. Palikao was 
seventy-three years old, and had very little knowledge 
of the existing military situation. Although his cabinet 
consisted of Bonapartists, the public sentiment against 
the Emperor was so strong that they demanded of Palikao 
that he should make Bazaine commander-in-chief in place 
of Napoleon, leaving the Empress regent, a cry even aris- 
ing that the Emperor must abdicate. 

There were sixty thousand Germans resident in France 



Franco-Prussian War. 52 1 

whom the Cabinet decreed should immediately leave the 
country. They were forced to sacrifice their property ; 
and all classes, including the aged, invalids, and the 
helpless, were obliged to depart at once. 

A new army was formed by MacMahon at Chalons, 
and in less than three weeks the attitude of France was 
changed from the aggressive to the defensive. The 
Crown Prince pressed forward with his main army into 
Lorraine, and uniting with the armies of the North and 
Centre, defeated Bazaine on the 14th of August at Cour- 
celles, forcing the latter to fall back upon Metz. 

The three battles of Courcelles, Mars-la-Tour, and 
Gravelotte, which took place on the 14th, i6th, and i8th, 
were in fact the same engagement. They were fought 
for the purpose of preventing the junction with Bazaine, 
whom, as we have seen, Frederick Charles had forced to 
retire upon Metz. In the battle of Mars-la-Tour, Bazaine 
tried, with one hundred and eighty thousand men, to 
force his way past Frederick Charles, who had one hun- 
dred and twenty thousand, the other two German armies 
being at the rear. Frederick Charles held his position 
until three other corps came to his assistance. This 
battle was one of the bloodiest in the whole war. The 
soldiers punned on the name of it, and called the battle 
'''' Marsch retour'''' (Return march). The Germans here 
fought against double their numbers. By the engage- 
ment, the advance of Bazaine and junction with Mac- 
Mahon was prevented, and the former was obliged to 
take a defensive position at Gravelotte and St. Privat. 

The decisive moment now arrived. If Bazaine could 
break through the German force and join MacMahon, he 
could fight with a chance of victory. His position at 
Gravelotte and on the heights of St. Privat was very 
strong, and he believed it impregnable. The French 



522 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

also were excited by the certainty of destruction in case 
of defeat, and tlie hope that in the event of victory they 
could annihilate the enemy. 

The Germans had united all the forces at this point 
which could be dispensed with elsewhere. On August 
i8 King William, Bismarck, Moltke, and Roon ap- 
peared on the field at Gravelotte. The king -personally 
directed the engagement, and it has since gone by the 
name of the ''The King's Battle." General Steinmetz 
commanded on one flank, and Prince Frederick Charles 
on the other. The battle began at noon, and raged all 
day without the Pomeranians, who had been expected 
every moment since morning. At five in the afternoon 
the French felt sure of success, and were beginning to 
break through the German line. Moltke rode anxiously 
up and down, looking through his glass in the direction 
from which the Pomeranians were to come. 

In the height of this battle, when it became doubtful 
which side would be victorious, Bismarck, becoming ner- 
vous, and anxious to know Moltke's opinion, passed him 
his cigar-case, which Moltke, receiving, turned carefully 
round in his hand in order to select the cigar which suited 
him best. Some have thought this exhibited unconcern 
on Moltke's part ; while others, knowing the habits of 
the latter, think it simply showed Bismarck's anxiety 
to learn by careful scrutiny what Moltke really thought 
the issue of the battle would be. 

At length the Pomeranians arrived, and with loud hur- 
rahs, shouting, "Forward, for God, King, and Father- 
land!" they were led into the battle. Their advent 
turned the day against the French, who were driven back, 
their retreat soon becoming a rout, which only ended 
behind the walls of Metz. 

A curious incident occurred at Gravellotte. As the 



Gravelotte. 523 

trumpet sounded, three hundred riderless horses, whose 
masters had fallen, wheeled into their places and charged 
with the rest. 

On the day after the battle, August 19, 1870, the hours 
from two to twelve at night, the time was devoted to 
burying the dead. The officers with their men formed in 
a great circle, and beheld six thousand of their compan- 
ions lowered into the grave. From time to time the 
bands played some grand old German choral, ^'' Ein' feste 
Biirg^^ and "/<:// weiss dass mei/i Erloser iebt^' (I know 
that my Redeemer lives). The exercises were closed by 
their playing the national hymn, "Z/V^ VaterlandP 

Prince Frederick Charles, with two hundred thousand 
men, commenced the siege of Metz, while the rest of the 
German army marched on to attack MacMahon and 
Trochu at Chalons; the former had retired from this 
place immediately after the struggle of Worth, for the 
purpose of raising an army with which he was to give 
battle, shielded by the fortifications of Paris. But Gene- 
ral Palikao, the new Minister of War, had ordered him 
to march along the Belgian frontier to the relief of Ba- 
zaine. This was a case of an experienced general being 
forced to obey the orders of an officer ignorant of war 
tactics. 

MacMahon gave up all hope when he received Palikao's 
orders, but was obliged to obey. Napoleon III. also de- 
sired to return to Paris; but the Empress and Cabinet 
feared for his life from the fury of the Paris mob. Pali- 
kao telegraphed, "Whatever you do, don't bring back the 
Emperor to Paris; that would cause a revolution." 

On the 23d of August, the Crown Prince received the 
news that MacMahon was marching northward. Moltke 
detected his plan, and saw that the army movements must 
be rapid in order to thwart MacMahon's scheme. The 



524 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

Germans' right wing was thereupon pushed beyond the 
Meuse, and occupied the passes of the Forest of Ardennes 
leading into Belgium. 

On the 31st of August, General MacMahon was nine 
miles from Sedan, where he learned that General Failly 
had been routed by the Crown Prince of Saxony, and that 
Bazaine had been defeated at Noisseville, and his retreat 
to Sedan, where MacMahon had expected to meet him, 
had been cut off by General Manteuffel. There was noth- 
ing left for MacMahon but to concentrate his forces at 
Sedan, a fortified town near the Belgian frontier. 

The fourth army had reached the French at Nouart, 
and two corps had been driven back as described above. 

King William, Bismarck, Moltke, and Roon were ap- 
proaching ; and the object of all was the destruction of 
MacMahon's army, the cutting off his retreat to Paris, 
and the support of Prince Charles in his siege of Metz. 
Napoleon III. had left Metz before the battle of Mars- 
la-Tour, and, not daring to return to Paris, was now with 
MacMahon. But this King William and his Cabinet did 
not know. 

The Germans, when they planted their batteries on all 
the heights, which surrounded the valley of the Meuse 
like the rim of an irregular basin, near Sedan, had two hun- 
dred thousand men, while MacMahon had one hundred 
and twelve thousand, his only chance of success being to 
break through the ring enclosing him where it was the 
weakest. 

It was upon this French force that Napoleon III. de- 
pended for his throne and life. He had sent his son, 
who had been with him until now, across the Belgian 
frontier, with instructions to proceed to the same palace 
in England (Chiselhurst), to which Empress Euge'nie and 
the Emperor afterwards in their flight repaired. 



Sedan. 525 

The battle of Sedan, fought September i, 1870, under 
the eye of King William himself, proved to be the most 
important victory in German history. Soon after the 
battle commenced, MacMahon was wounded ; and the 
command was given to Ducrot, and afterwards to old 
General Wimpffen. Within the ring protected by Sedan, 
the French corps of MacMahon, Failley, Douay, and 
Lebrun made a brave resistance, but were finally repulsed 
at every point, and driven back into the fortress of Sedan, 
with Napoleon still among them. This was three o'clock 
in the afternoon. The scene in the village of Sedan was 
indescribable. It was with difficulty that the whole French 
army, now become a brutal mob, pressed through the nar- 
row gates. Just at that time the Germans began a bom- 
bardment of the town from the heights above. 

In the fierce and desperate battle which raged until 
late at night, the hope and pride of Napoleon gave way ; 
he wandered about the field for several hours in the hope 
that some stray bullet would end his life. General 
Wimpffen, who had never understood the relative posi- 
tion of the armies, proposed to the Emperor that they 
should try to cut their way to Belgium. Napoleon de- 
clined to do this, and drew out a white flag, but Wimpffen 
respectfully took it away from him ; a few minutes after, 
the old general being called away. Napoleon sent the 
white flag to the wall. 

Hereupon William I. sent Colonel Brossart to demand 
a capitulation. The latter soon returned with the French 
General Reille, who was wounded, and supported by a 
cane. He brought a letter, which read something as fol- 
lows : " Having failed to meet death at the head of my 
army, I lay my sword at your Majesty's feet. I remain 
your Majesty's good brother. Napoleon." After a short 
consultation with the Crown Prince, Bismarck, Moltke, 



526 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

and Roon, the king wrote a letter which demanded the 
unconditional surrender of the Emperor and his army. 
On the German side, the king named General von Moltke 
to accept the relinquishment of arms. On his way back 
to deliver the message to Wimpffen, who was the French 
officer duly authorized to act in the matter, MacMahon 
being still disabled, Reille kept hearing the long, loud, 
ever-extending shouts of the German army, who had 
already become acquainted with the wonderful news. 
Moltke and Wimpffen immediately met to arrange the 
terms of the surrender. 

On September 2 Napoleon, now a fugitive from his own 
troops as well as from France, left Sedan, and after an in- 
terview with Bismarck before a farmhouse at Donchery, 
repaired as a prisoner of war to the Castle of Belle- 
vue, where Bismarck received him. The king hastened 
from Donchery, about three miles distant, where he had 
been waiting the conclusion of the capitulation, and for 
fifteen minutes had an interview entirely alone with Napo- 
leon. By those who comprehend the magnanimity of 
King William's great soul, what passed in that room at that 
interview can easily be imagined. Whatever it was, when 
the two monarchs appeared, the eyes of both were suffused 
with tears. With characteristic delicacy, the king after- 
wards invited Napoleon to take up his residence in 
the magnificent palace of Wilhelmshohe. The following 
morning, in a heavy rainstorm, Napoleon, with his suite, 
departed for those beautiful heights, where he remained, 
always treated with the courtesy that one gives to an 
honored guest. After residing here in luxury for six 
months, March 19, 187 1, he repaired to Chiselhurst, 
where he spent the remainder of his life as a private 
gentleman, with the Empress and the young prince. Just 
before his death, January 9, 1873, his party in France 



Sedan. 527 

had arranged a plan to recall him to the throne. Bis- 
marck, when consulted, had declared that he would take 
no part one way or the other. About the time of his 
leaving Wilhelmshohe, two years before. Napoleon had 
issued a proclamation in which he protested against the 
resolution taken by the National Assembly, soon after 
his surrender, deposing the Napoleonic dynasty. His de- 
mands for a vote of the people (a '"plebiscite," of which 
there had been so many) received no attention. In 1873 
he might, perhaps, have been temporarily restored had he 
not died with the fatal disease which had so long para- 
lyzed his ordinary powers. 

After the interview with Napoleon at the Chateau of 
Bellevue, King William rode through the ranks of his 
army and exchanged greetings with his victorious troops. 
The soldiers shouted and sang by turns ; oftentimes the 
soft notes of the old hymns, '•'•Nun da7iket alle Gott,^' and 
'■'■Ein'' fcste Burg" rose upon the evening air; then these 
airs were changed to shouts and the national songs, '''•Licb 
Vaterland" and ''Wacht am Rhein^ 

The same modest bearing characterized King William 
through all his successes ; and when raised to his greatest 
worldly grandeur, he issued proclamations of the most 
genuine humility, giving all the glory to God. He wrote 
to the queen after the capitulation at Sedan, saying that 
the war with Austria of 1866 had been so successful that 
he could not have had reason to expect anything greater 
or more glorious ; and when he beheld the accomplish- 
ment of these later important events, he felt that he must 
bow in greater humility before God, who seemed to have 
chosen him as a humble instrument to work out these 
results for the Fatherland. 

After the capitulation, the town of Sedan was found to 
be in a state too deplorable to describe. For five days 



528 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

the French soldiers had plundered and committed every 
conceivable kind of barbarity, so that the people felt 
when the Prussians entered as if they were rescued from 
wild beasts. It took weeks to render the city a place fit 
for human beings. The French troops almost broke into 
a mutiny when they learned that Napoleon had surren- 
dered, and the Germans were obliged to direct their 
cannon against the town. 

General Palikao had been representing to the people in 
Paris that the Prussians were meeting with heavy losses, 
and that the French army, with five hundred thousand 
troops, was about to invade Germany. When the people 
learned the truth concerning the German victory at 
Sedan, that the Emperor had been made a prisoner, that 
the whole French army had been transported to Germany, 
and that the triumphant enemy was actually marching 
upon Paris, the excitement there knew no bounds. The 
voices of the mob cried out, "Abdicate ! Abdicate ! Down 
with Napoleon ! Long live Trochu ! Long live Gambetta ! " 
Jules Favre, on the side of the moderate faction, offered 
the resolution that Louis Napoleon and his family should 
be forever excluded from the throne. Then the crowd, 
with Favre and Gambetta at their head, marched to the 
Hotel de Ville, and proclaimed the Republic. 

Meanwhile the excitement was running so high that Em- 
press Euge'nie, assisted by Mr. Evans and another Ameri- 
can dentist, both of whom were accustomed to be received 
as guests in the Tuileries, was conducted with a few fol- 
lowers to the little harbor of Beauville opposite the Isle 
of Wight, and after about two days of perilous adventure 
was landed at the town of Ryde. The whole party was 
in such a pitiable plight that the landlord of the hotel at 
first refused to receive them. Her protectors accompa- 
nied the Empress to London, and hired for her the Hotel 



Strasburg. 529 

Camden Place in Chiselhurst, where she found her son, 
and where m the midst of all her subsequent sorrow she 
for many years continued to reside. 

The news of the victory at Sedan created a great sen- 
sation even over the waters as far as Australia, and the 
German people in America were filled with rejoicing. 

By the exertions of Gambetta, three new armies were 
raised for the purpose of assisting the military force 
in Paris against the impending siege. On September 18 
General von Werder had summoned the fortress of Stras- 
burg to surrender. In reply, Uhrich, the commandant, 
had replied, " Not while I have a single soldier, a cart- 
ridge, and a single loaf of bread ! " But after a siege of 
several weeks, a bombardment commenced, and was kept 
up day and night. Two hundred and forty-one cannon 
were fired and two hundred thousand shot. Mothers and 
children, old men, invalids, strangers and friends, crowded 
together into corners and cellars, each moment expecting 
death either by a shot or the falling walls. The messen- 
ger who was sent to invite the women and children and 
those enfeebled by age to seek safety in the German 
camp during the last destructive bombardment, found 
the town entirely uninformed of recent events, which had 
transpired since August 14. They knew nothing of 
Gravelotte nor Sedan, and thus heroically held out, be- 
cause they were in hope of relief from outside. 

The final storming of such a fortress always means 
death to a large part of the troops engaged in it, and in 
this case the men were selected by lot. The soldiers 
had been drawn ; and a chaplain had held a religious ser- 
vice, and administered the sacrament. All was ready, and 
the brave fellows waited the command, when a cry rang 
through the camp, " Look to the Cathedral tower ! " 
They looked and saw a white flag. The poor Strasburgers 



530 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

had at last given up hope. Seventeen thousand prisoners, 
with one thousand two hundred cannon and all the muni- 
tions of war stored in the town, fell into the hands of the 
Germans. 

All the desperate attempts which Bazaine had made to 
break out of Metz had been without avail ; and the siege 
had lasted more than two months, from August 19 to 
October 27. Finally famine reduced the town; all arti- 
cles of ordinary food failed. A man sold a ham for fifty 
dollars, and bread and salt could not be procured. Every 
kind of fodder for horses was exhausted, and the starving 
beasts often bit off each other's tails in their agony of 
hunger. The besiegers also suffered in many ways — from 
the cold nights and heavy rains, sometimes standing 
knee-deep in the water. One German soldier found shel- 
ter in an upturned barrel, and called it his '' Hotel 
Diogenes." 

At last General Changarnier, an old officer of eighty 
years, came to Prince Frederick Charles under a flag of 
truce, and offered to give up the city. His eyes were 
filled with tears as, announcing that Metz could stand 
the siege no longer, he said : " I hope you may never see 
the misery and suffering which I have seen in Metz. " 
A tremendous thunderstorm and an illuminated sky fol- 
lowed the capitulation. The king made Prince Frederick 
Charles and the Crown Prince marshals. Bazaine was 
denounced by Gambetta as a traitor ; and the order was 
given to arrest him whenever found, and to deliver him up. 

After the fall of Metz, two Imes of work were left open to 
the forces on both sides, — the war in the provinces, and 
the long siege of Paris. Of the three armies raised by Gam- 
betta, that of the North, under General Faidherbe, after 
many battles, was destroyed. The army of the Loire, under 
Chancy, met the same fate ; and France now looked to 



Surrender of Metz. 5 3 1 

General Bourbaki to relieve the fortress of Belfort, and to 
cut off the communication of all the German armies from 
France ; there was even hope entertained that he might 
invade Germany, since he had one hundred and fifty 
thousand troops, besides a force of twenty thousand under 
Garibaldi, whom Gambetta had summoned from Italy. 
Bourbaki had also thirty thousand men under Cremer, 
a general who had been taken prisoner at Gravelotte, and 
had broken his parole. The hope of Bourbaki was sud- 
denly cut off by General Werder in the battle of Belfort, 
which lasted five days. It was a great surprise to Bour- 
baki that Werder was able, with forty thousand men, to 
maintain for three days one of the blobdiest conflicts of 
the whole war. The retreat of the French was cut off by 
Manteuffel. They then crossed the Swiss frontier, where 
eighty thousand men were disarmed. Gambetta dismissed 
Bourbaki, who was so chagrined that he tried to commit 
suicide. This retreat into Switzerland was the last im- 
portant event of the "Franco-Prussian War." 



532 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 



CHAPTER LII. 

SIEGE AND CAPITULATION OF PARIS. THIRTY THOUSAND 

TROOPS ONLY ENTER PARIS. WILLIAM I. CHOSEN 

EMPEROR. TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF EMPEROR WILLIAM 

INTO BERLIN. FIRST GERMAN PARLIAMENT. 

1870—1871 A.D. 

AFTER the capitulation of Sedan, King William im- 
^ mediately advanced on Paris, and took up his 
headquarters at the Palace of Versailles. The king and 
his cabinet thought it was necessary to take Paris, in 
order to obtain satisfactory terms of peace, and to secure 
an indemnity large enough to guarantee them against a 
renewal of the strife, and to convince the war party that 
the sacred city was not impregnable. 

From a military point of view, the siege and defence 
of this great capital, commencing the 19th of September, 
was a stupendous work. The Germans had thought to 
take the city immediately by bombardment; but they 
soon saw that this was impossible, since there were in 
Paris four hundred thousand men, while the besiegers at 
first had only one hundred and twenty thousand infantry, 
and their greatest force was less than two hundred thou- 
sand soldiers. In the time of Louis Philippe, Thiers, 
who was his minister, had suggested that the remarkable 
advantageous situation of Paris should be strengthened 
against such a contingency as happened when, in 18 14- 
18 1 5, it was obliged to surrender at almost a moment's 
notice ; therefore walls were built around the city, and the 



Siege and Capitulation of Paris. 533 

fortifications, among which are Mont Valerien, with its 
chain of strong forts, were built on the west. The south 
side was protected by the forts of Issy, Vanvres, Mont- 
rouge, Bicetre, and Ivry. Between the Seine and the 
Marne is Fort Charenton ; on the east side of the town are 
Nojent, Rosny, Noisy, Romainville; and on the northeast 
the fort of Aubervilliers and the strong fortress of St. De- 
nis. These works had cost five hundred million francs, 
and it was believed that they defied any bombardment. 

Ever since the news that the Germans were approach- 
ing had reached the capital, the work of provisioning 
had begun ; and it was now thought that the reserve in 
store was ample for four months. No one had any idea 
but that the Germans, long before the expiration of that 
period, would abandon the siege. Gambetta had left 
Paris in a balloon in order to raise troops; and in all 
probability some European powers would intervene, and 
compel what the people of Paris called the " barbarians " 
to break off the siege. Victor Hugo addressed an im- 
aginary German army, and said to them, "Leave the 
walls of Paris! You are rushing into the jaws of death ! 
Go back to your country before you have covered your- 
selves with everlasting shame by a vain attempt to con- 
quer Paris ! " And it did seem that the Germans had 
undertaken a Herculean task. The line of ramparts to 
be constructed by the besiegers around the city was fifty 
miles in extent. The Germans soon comprehended that 
nothing but a regular siege was possible, and this seemed 
more formidable to them every day. They saw that they 
would be obliged to protect all these ramparts with picked 
men, and that they must bring the entire army supplies 
from Germany over the only railroad under their com- 
mand. French volunteers were constantly at work to 
destroy the road behind the German army, while the 



534 Geniuviy : Her People and Their Story. 

French themselves had the advantage of railroads in all 
directions which connected them with the sea-coast, and 
every point from which they could procure supplies; the 
only trouble was that they could not get past the German 
lines, and no balloons or carrier pigeons with microscopic 
messages used for purposes of communication could bring 
food to the starving multitude inside the walls. Some- 
times squads from the force marshalled in the city would 
venture out through the town gates, but only to bring 
back heaps of their own dead. The famine increased, 
but the rich still had a meagre supply of food. Ever 
after December 21, the misery was abject; not a morsel 
of bread, only horses, dogs, cats, and rats for meat. Six 
hundred and fifty horses were killed each day. People 
spent their time shooting the sparrows in the streets, and 
all the elephants and lions in the Zoological Garden 
were slaughtered for food. For New Year's presents, 
the fashionable people, with characteristic elegance, sent, 
in rich boxes, potatoes, onions, and beans. The trees in 
the gardens and parks were cut down for fuel ; but the 
streets were no longer lighted, because there was no coal 
with which to manufacture gas. Sixty-four thousand 
people died from hunger and disease during the siege. 
At last the bombardment commenced. The plan of 
the Germans had been not to occupy many cities and 
provinces, but to keep the besieging army well supplied 
in order to prevent any possibility of a break in their 
lines. On the 5th of December, Frederick Charles had 
taken Orleans, his troops being ready to re-enforce the 
Germans outside of Paris, while all three of the French 
armies, the two at Dijon and Amiens, as well as the one 
at Orleans which had been expected to bring relief, were 
driven back ; and the worst phase of the situation was 
that no European powers had intervened, Thiers had 



Siege and Capitulation of Paris. 535 

made a tour to Vienna, St. Petersburg, and London seek- 
ing aid; but France as a republic had no claims on the 
Hapsburg House, and the deep sympathy wliicli had 
been aroused by the former usurpations of the French 
hindered all the nations from now coming to their relief. 

When the cannonading commenced, the shells fell a 
distance of four miles beyond the fortresses, into the city. 
General Trochu, at the head of one hundred thousand 
men, fought with the energy of despair ; and when at 
night he was driven back into the fortress, the mob, in 
the shape of the Paris Commune, which had really had 
possession of the town ever since the 31st of October, 
demanded his abdication. All means of resistance were 
now exhausted. The people were literally starving, after 
four months of patient endurance. 

On January 23 Jules Favre appeared at the Palace of 
Versailles with an offer to surrender. The terms of the 
capitulation were the giving up of all the war material, 
and the disarming of the entire French force except the 
city guard. The government was obliged to pay imme- 
diately two hundred million francs war indemnity, and 
an armistice of three weeks was granted the French for 
the purpose of electing a National Assembly that should 
decide upon the final preliminaries of peace. The capit- 
ulations were finished January 28. 

On February 26, 187 1, the National Assembly ratified 
an agreement made by Count Bismarck and Thiers at 
the Palace of Versailles. France ceded to Germany Lor- 
raine with Metz, also Alsace, with all its cities and for- 
tresses except Belfort; although the latter had been taken 
by the Germans, through magnanimity they ceded it back 
to France. By the treaty then made, Germany gained a 
population of one and a half million, and two hundred 
and sixty German square miles. France agreed to pay 



536 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

five thousand million francs war indemnity, the German 
troops quartering in France to an extent stated in the 
agreement until the payments were made. Thirty thousand 
German troops were to enter and temporarily occupy cer- 
tain parts of Paris. The terms of peace were made easier 
because the Germans realized that a few days more of 
hostilities would make so great inroads into the army, 
which had endured such hardships in the siege, that 
another body of troops would have to be brought thither, 
made up of volunteers awaiting orders in Germany. 
William I. gave the French no more humiliation than 
was necessary to convince the nation of Germany's power. 

On the I St of March, the force of thirty thousand men 
entered Paris and occupied the Place de la Concorde as 
far as the Arch of Triumph, — that great monument of the 
first Napoleon's victories, and Germany's humiliation and 
defeat. The war had lasted two hundred and ten days 
(seven months), but the actual warfare had been only one 
hundred and eighty days. Three French armies had sur- 
rendered, and the fourth was driven into Switzerland; 
there had been seventeen great battles, and one hundred 
and fifty-six engagements in all ; twenty-two fortresses 
were occupied, among them Paris, Metz, and Strasburg. 
In addition, about four hundred thousand prisoners, seven 
thousand two hundred cannon, and six hundred thousand 
stand of arms, were among the trophies. When peace 
was signed, Germany had six hundred thousand armed 
men in France, and two hundred and fifty thousand more 
ready at home to enter the field. 

On December 18, 1870, while the siege of Paris was 
going on, a deputation had been sent from the North Ger- 
man Assembly to Versailles to offer the Imperial Crown 
to King William from the German Confederation. The 
same man, Simson, was at the head of the deputation. 



William I. Chosen Emperor. 537 

who, in 1849, h^d, in accordance with the resolution of 
the Frankfort Parliament, offered the crown of the Em- 
pire to Frederick William IV. At the time the title was 
offered to the latter, he said in refusing it, that the states 
of the Confederation could never be consolidated into an 
Empire except by a fierce and bloody war. 

In August, 1870, Bavaria had joined in an address ask- 
ing their king, Louis II., for a union with the North Ger- 
man Confederation. On the November following, Baden, 
Wiirtemberg, and Hesse took the same step. On the 30th 
of November, King Louis of Bavaria had addressed a 
letter to each of the ruling princes of Southern Germany 
and to the three free cities, asking them to confer on 
the King of Prussia, as the head of united Germany, 
the title of ''German Emperor." Afterwards the North 
German Diet had joined in this request, and Louis II. was 
selected to invite King William to assume the imperial 
dignity, with the condition that it should be hereditary 
in his family. 

Accordingly a great throng of German princes and 
generals assembled on the 18th of January, 187 1, in the 
great "Hall of Mirrors," in the Palace of Versailles, and 
listened to the Proclamation of the Empire. This was 
the one hundred and seventieth anniversary of the day 
Frederick III., Elector of Brandenburg, had been 
crowned King of Prussia as Frederick I. It was in this 
vast chamber that Richelieu, Louis XIV., and Napoleon I. 
had laid their deep plans for the destruction of Germany 
and the partition of Prussia; and here William I. of. 
Hohenzollern received the Imperial Crown. 

The hope cherished in the minds of the German people 
ever since Frederick Barbarossa went to sleep under the 
Kyfhauser was now fulfilled; to them his spirit had come 
back, and Germany was free. 



538 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

The night after the armistice had been agreed upon 
between Jules Favre and Bismarck, a cannon fired at 
midnight had announced the cessation of the bombard- 
ment and the close of the war. The interim of sixty-five 
years in the German Empire, since Francis II. gave up 
the crown to Napoleon, was now brought to a close. 

Count d'Herisson describes an interview he had with 
the Emperor when instructed to carry a letter to Prince 
Wittgenstein, Emperor William's aide-de-camp. He 
wrote, "A sentinel lowered his bayonet before me to 
prevent my advance. The soldier on guard, however, 
conducted me to the immense hall which served as an 
antechamber to the royal apartments; it was filled with 
an army of generals and other functionaries in full uni- 
form, which blazed with gold lace and gorgeous decora- 
tions. The helmets sparkled and flashed; the spurs 
clinked and clanked; the sabres rattled and clashed 
against the marble pavement. I saw the tall and splen- 
did athletic forms; the broad shoulders and breasts; the 
glances full of triumph and joy, calm repose, and assu- 
rance replete with the opulence of power. While I 
waited the Emperor came from his apartments in the 
palace, going forth to ride. The grenadiers presented 
arms. In the court I heard the noises of the military 
troops forming into line; the pawing and neighing of 
fiery horses awaiting to obey the command of their mas- 
ters. Amid the crowd I saw from my corner the nev/ly 
proclaimed Emperor of Germany, the conqueror of 
France. He advanced, calm and smiling, revealing in 
his countenance the father and the soldier. With the 
greatest effort I suppressed a sob of anguish at the con- 
trast, — our afflictions! our shame ! and their prosperity ! 
this glory of our conquerors ! " 

The changed attitude of Germany from Count d'Heris- 



Triumphant Entry into Berlin. 539 

son's point of view calls to mind the deep humiliation of 
Prussia in the years preceding and subsequent to the 
Peace of Tilsit, when, crushed by the despotism of Napo- 
leon and smarting under the iron heel of France, as a 
nation she was almost blotted out. The poetic justice of 
the situation appeals to all. 

On March 17, 187 1, the" Emperor returned to Berlin 
amidst the loud and tumultuous rejoicing of the people. 
He had left the city as King of Prussia, he returned wearing 
a diadem more resplendent than any since Charlemagne ; 
for he had rendered secure that Prussian crown which had 
been degraded, and at one time almost snatched away. 

On his arrival in Berlin, Emperor William repaired 
immediately to the mausoleum at Charlottenburg, and, 
bending over the tomb of his beautiful mother, the Queen 
Louise, he called to mind her dying words, "Conquer 
back again from France the darkened glory of your coun- 
try." To what a work had Providence chosen the son of 
this noble queen, who as a youth had shared the bitterest 
sorrows of the Fatherland; and now in the evening of his 
life he was permitted to realize the holiest wishes of his 
sainted mother and of the nation ! 

On the 7th of March, Emperor William, after the terms 
of peace had been confirmed by the National Assembly 
at Bordeaux, had sent this message to the Empress: "I 
have just ratified the Treaty of Peace proclaimed yester- 
day. After seven months' successful conflict, thanks to 
the disinterested devotion of the Fatherland, and the in- 
trepid zeal and perseverance of the matchless army, the 
stupendous work has thus far been completed. The Lord 
of Hosts has manifestly blessed our undertakings, and 
allowed us to conclude this honorable peace. May the 
glory be his ! With my whole heart I thank the army 
and the Fatherland." 



540 Gerviany : Her People and Their Story. 

The Treaty of Peace at Frankfort-on-the-Main, which 
definitely concluded the capitulations between France 
and Germany, was ratified on May lo, 187 1. 

The great enthusiasm of the nation reached its climax 
at the final festive entry of the troops into Berlin, which 
did not take place until the i6th of June, 187 1. The vet- 
erans, with the Emperor at their head, were greeted with 
rapturous delight by the populace. The procession passed 
in through the Brandenburg Gate, the same through which 
the great Napoleon, with his army, had entered in 1806 
after the battle of Jena. The scene had greatly changed 
since the events which transpired twenty years before 
when the revolutionary party held possession of the town, 
and thirty thousand insurgents had seized the palace of 
this very Emperor, then Prince of Prussia, and, breathing 
out anathemas against him, had declared the premises 
"National Property." A few months after this revolu- 
tion, the Prince of Prussia had stupefied the Assembly 
by entering one of its Diets after his return from Eng- 
land, whither he had been banished by his brother, Wil- 
liam IV., for desiring to take up arms against the mob. 
From fear of violence he came accompanied by two offi- 
cers, and when he asked permission to speak, was almost 
refused. How different this entry into Berlin from that 
of almost a quarter of a century before. It was, however, 
the speech that he then made which laid the foundation 
of the homage he this day received. 

The enormous multitude, which occupied every square 
and street, housetop and tower, were the descendants of 
the tribes which Charlemagne had first consolidated into 
a tottering Empire. On this joyful occasion all rejoiced 
that the unity which the old Arminius had conceived, and 
for which he had fought and died, was now realized. 

The vast concourse was led by a cortege bearing the torn 



First German Parliament. 541 

and blackened banners and the eagles captured in France. 
These trophies were laid on the steps of the monument 
dedicated to the memory of the Emperor's late father, 
Frederick William III. One of Germany's historians 
remarks upon the scene as follows : " What a moment 
was this, when the earnest features of the king, on whom 
Napoleon had inflicted such abject humiliations, looked 
down on the spoils at his feet, and at the jubilant crowd 
all about him! " 

The venerable conqueror with the crown prince, Prince 
Frederick Charles, Bismarck, Moltke, and Roon, headed 
the procession, which came to a final halt before the 
statue of Frederick the Great, beside which stand other 
monuments of the heroes in the War of the Liberation, 
— those of Bliicher, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Biilow, and 
York. At this point the people, remembering the trials 
of their fathers, and excited by the joy and hope which 
now entered their lives, gave expression to their feelings 
by uninterrupted shouts and cheers for their Emperor. 

On March 21, 187 i, four days after the Emperor's return 
from the siege of Paris, the first German Parliament since 
1849 was called together, and the organization of the 
new Empire was immediately commenced. The follow- 
ing is a brief outline of the constitution adopted by a 
large majority present: "The King of Prussia, Emperor; 
the title and Empire, hereditary; twenty-five German gov- 
ernments to be represented by the Diet, and presided 
over by the Imperial Chancellor, Prince Bismarck." 
This answered in some degree to the British House of 
Lords; there was also a House of Commons, or Reichs- 
tag, of three hundred and eighty-two members elected di- 
rectly by universal suffrage; there was to be in the nation 
one army, one navy, one currency, the same measure, 
weight, and tariff, and one customs frontier. 



542 Germajiy: Her People and Their Story. 

On March 22, the day after the first Diet, which was 
the Emperor's birthday, Count Bismarck was raised to 
the hereditary rank of prince. The Emperor made him 
a present of the royal domains at Friedrichsruhe, where 
ever after, except when official duties called him to reside 
in Berlin, he spent his time in study and plans for the 
welfare of the nation. 



Germany and the Oriental Question. 543 



CHAPTER LIII. 

GERMANY AND THE ORIENTAL QUESTION. " KULTUR- 

KAMPF " (culture-struggle). THE SEPTENNAT. 

1871—1887 A.D. 

THERE was a Congress called together at Berlin, 
June 13, 1878, which met in the palace of Prince 
Bismarck. By its authority it indicated the commanding 
position which the Empire had assumed during the last 
six years ; and its object was to consider the imminent 
danger of a great war, which had reference to the final 
dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, and to take meas- 
ures against it. The splendid Mohammedan domain 
was being torn asunder ; and the adjoining countries, Aus- 
tria, Russia, France, England, and Italy, stood awaiting, 
sword in hand, the moment to make good their respective 
claims to the pieces. Who should take Palestine with 
Jerusalem? Who should have Montenegro, Bosnia, and 
Servia, the provinces on the Austrian frontier ? What 
would become of the little kingdom of Greece? And 
above all, who should have Constantinople ? 

This Congress had met to take measures against a war 
which appeared inevitable. Napoleon HI. had entered 
into the Crimean War, in 1853, hoping to strengthen his 
throne, while at the same time the Russian Emperor, 
Nicholas, desired that this Oriental question should ter- 
minate in his favor. The Paris Congress, March 30, 
1856, had interrupted Russia's plan for monopolizing 
Turkey. From that time Russia built up her army; and 



544 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

when France became weakened by the war of 1870, the 
former thought it was her chance to get possession of 
Turkey by offering assistance to the Sultan, against whom 
the provinces had risen in rebellion. Sultan Abdul Aziz 
agreed to receive the Russian troops in Constantinople, 
but before this plan was carried out he committed sui- 
cide. 

England and Austria, fearing that Turkey and Russia 
would together settle the Oriental question, leaving them 
out in the cold, desired that Germany, with her immense 
military power, might intervene, especially as she had 
shown no desire, since she became an Empire, for con- 
quest. In May, 1876, Bismarck invited Gortchakoff 
and Andrassy, the two chancellors of Russia and Austria, 
to a conference in Berlin. These three statesmen agreed 
upon a policy which would force the victorious insurgents 
in Turkey to conclude an armistice of two months. The 
consuls of the respective governments having been in- 
structed to see that the policy was carried out, the fleets 
of the European powers were sent to the Bosporus to 
keep the Porte in order. 

Russia did not observe the terms of the agreement; 
but, April 23, 1877, marched an army across the Pruth, 
and declared war against Turkey, under a pretext that the 
Porte was delaying its promised reforms. The war lasted 
a year ; and Russia, though wrong in its premises, was suc- 
cessful in the end. By the terms of the Treaty of San 
Stefano, Bulgaria became a Russian vassal state; Mon- 
tenegro and Roumania were left independent; while the 
conduct of Russia in the affair almost kindled a European 
war. 

Austria and England prepared with an armed force to 
oppose the execution of the Treaty of San Stefano, which 
was made in Bismarck's palace. This Congress divided 



^^ Kultiirkampf." 545 

Bulgaria into the Principality of Bulgaria and the prov- 
ince of East Roumania. Servia and Montenegro were 
recognized as independent states; Russia was allowed to 
keep Bessarabia, but had to sacrifice Dobrudja to Rouma- 
nia; Austria was instructed to occupy Bosnia and Herze- 
govina; England was given the right to occupy the Island 
of Cyprus, and received a protectorate in Asia Minor. 
This partition of Turkey averted the European war ; and 
after this, Germany, Austria, and Italy joined in a triple 
alliance. 

Soon after the first meeting of the Diet of the German 
Empire, a party of sixty-three Roman Catholics appeared 
amongst its members. From this time Romanism and 
Protestantism were the opposing factors, which contended 
for sixteen years. This period was called the German 
" Kulturkampf, " literally a Culture-Struggle ; but it was, 
in fact, a contest between the State and the Catholic 
Church. 

As early as 1864 Pope Pius IX., as Viceregent of Christ, 
proclaimed one of the articles of faith to be the "Infalli- 
bility of the Pope." On July 18, 1870, the Catholic 
party publicly, with the Jesuits, promulgated this new 
dogma of Infallibility. 

After the Italian war of 1870, the council, which had 
come together for the purpose of deciding this question 
of Infallibility, never met again. The French soldiers 
were withdrawn from Italy the same year, and Victor 
Emanuel was preparing to take Rome as the seat of the 
Italian government. In September the Italian troops 
occupied the city, and put an end to the Pope's temporal 
power. That same October the Pope postponed the 
assembling of the synod, but instructed all bishops, 
priests, and teachers in Germany to accept the dogma 
of Infallibility. This was opposed by the instructors 



54^ Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

and professors in the Catholic Universities of Germany, 
and some of the Infallibility Party tried to remove them ; 
but at a Conference held at Nuremberg in August, it was 
finally voted that the Convocation of the Vatican had no 
authority over a German Council, and that the dogma of 
Infallibility was invalid. This was at the time of the 
Franco-Prussian War, and all minor considerations were 
waived. The clerical party busied themselves in select- 
ing candidates for the first Diet, and this was how it 
happened that there were sixty-five Roman Catholics 
who were ready to destroy the Empire if they could add 
sufficient force to the number. This was called the 
Ultramontane Party. It carried forty-three districts, and 
elected men entirely devoted to the cause of the Church. 
Professor Dollinger, of the Munich University, publicly 
protested against the Infallibility doctrine, thus becom- 
ing the starting-point of a separate church, called the 
Old Catholics. The Clerical Party resisted every decla- 
ration which would bind the Empire against the restora- 
tion of the Pope's temporal power ; but, notwithstanding, 
the National Party elected two hundred and forty-three 
members of the Diet of 187 1 against the sixty-five re- 
ferred to. Yet the manner in which the pulpit was used 
to influence the election, and the edict of excommunica- 
tion hurled against the leading Catholic teachers and 
scholars for refusing to accept the dogma of Infallibility, 
alarmed the public mind, which was always alert from 
the remembrance of the long ages during which Germany 
was dismembered by Catholic influence. 

The conflict between the German government and cler- 
ical faction in 1872 finally influenced the Old Catholic 
Party to propose expelling the Jesuits and all kindred 
societies from Germany; this caused the Roman bishops 
to declare war against the German Government. The 



'^ Kultnrkamp/y 547 

Pope in 1873 addressed a communication to Emperor 
William, telling him that the acts of his government 
would cause the destruction of the Empire. He also 
told him that all human beings who had been baptized 
belong, in one way or another, to the Pope. Emperor 
William replied in a pacific tone, but stated that he 
must contradict the statement which His Holiness had 
just made, since he and his subjects were not able to 
receive any other mediator than Plim whom their fore- 
fathers had accepted, — the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The attitude of Pope Pius IX. at this time was such 
that all reconciliation was out of the question. On May 
14, 1872, he rejected Cardinal Prince Hohenlohe, a mem- 
ber of one of the ruling families, as diplomat ; and then 
Bismarck, becoming impatient on account of so much 
dogmatism on the part of Pope Pius, gave utterance in the 
Reichstag to his most profound and most famous sen- 
timent: "Whatever may happen, we shall not go to 
Canossa in body or in spirit." Upon many a monu- 
ment to Bismarck in Germany these words are engraved. 
Before the close of the struggle, the German nation was 
obliged to suffer almost as great a humiliation as this 
sentiment implied. 

In 1873 the celebrated legislation, the " May Laws," so 
called because enacted in the month of May, was inau- 
gurated. The object of it was to weaken both the power 
of the clergy over the laity, and that of the bishop over 
the lower priesthood ; to designate more fully the rights of 
the old Catholic party, always loyal to the government ; 
and also to define more carefully the authority of the 
state to punish violations of the law. 

As a result of the religious excitement, in 1874 an 
assassin attempted to take Prince Bismarck's life while 
the latter was at the bath of Kissingen. A man ap- 



548 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

proached his carriage as if to exchange greetings; the 
prince raised his hand to reciprocate the courtesy, when 
the assailant fired a revolver at his head, only wounding 
the uplifted hand. The injury was slight, but the fury 
of the crowd was such that it was with difficulty that 
Bismarck prevented the man being torn to pieces. When, 
on the same day, the chancellor visited the prisoner in 
his cell, he found that he was simply a fanatic, only 
twenty-one years of age. On being asked by Prince Bis- 
marck why he had wished to murder him, he replied, " Be- 
cause you passed the Church Laws. " Bismarck received 
two thousand telegrams of sympathy from every class in 
the nation. 

Doctor Windthorst, the chief of the "Centre" as the 
clerical party is called, in 1876 threatened a revolution in 
the Diet, saying that he would compel the government 
to abolish the May Laws or he would overthrow it ; he 
stated that he stood at the head of ten million German 
Roman Catholics, and declared that all the wretchedness 
in the Empire came from the Kulturkampf. 

In 1878 Pope Pius IX. died; and his successor, Leo 
XIII., announced his elevation to the Papal throne to 
Emperor William in friendly terms, saying that he had 
an earnest desire for peace, but it could not be attained 
except by the abolition of the May Laws. Bismarck re- 
plied that he was willing to modify these, if the "Cen- 
tre " and the Catholic press would terminate their violent 
opposition. The Germania, the organ of the Catholic 
party, replied that the Catholics would continue their 
opposition, even if peace should be restored with Rome. 

The sufferings of Germany during the Kulturkampf 
resulted in the greatest sacrifice that a civilized commu- 
nity had ever been obliged to make of reason and re- 
ligion. The responsibility of it did not lay entirely at 



^^ Kulturkamp/y 549 

Bismarck's door, but with all the governments of the 
world. The mistake of Bismarck consisted in not com- 
mencing the struggle earlier and with greater force. On 
account of his recent successes, not understanding the 
determination of his opponents, he thought he could act 
intelligently with respect to any difficulty, without a broad 
and matured plan. He also relied on the idea that few 
would accept the dogma of Infallibility, and that the whole 
enlightened modern world would support him against such 
an error. He relied on the German Protestant popula- 
tion, on the schools and universities, on the Evangelical 
Church, and on the Old Catholic party. Not one of these 
allies came to his rescue, and the Evangelical Church 
came out of the conflict as much in danger as the Catho- 
lics themselves. 

Germany had also made a mistake in the execution of 
the laws against the Catholic Church, and the attention 
of the masses was soon turned from the doctrine of 
Infallibility to the victims of what seemed a religious per- 
secution ; for the state felt obliged to imprison many who 
had not obeyed the enactments, withdrawing the salaries 
to the amount of sixteen million marks from the Roman 
clergy who had not acceded to the terms required by the 
state. Cloisters had been suppressed, and many Catho- 
lic subjects imprisoned, banished, and deprived of means 
of subsistence. Sisters of Charity, who spent their lives 
in acts of tenderness, were among the persecuted ; and 
Catholic priests were forbidden to read mass, preach, or 
administer the sacraments, solemnize the marriage rite, 
or give consolation to the dying. For once in history 
the Roman Church experienced the same kind of inter- 
dict which it had been inflicting through all the ages upon 
the Protestants. But although the plan of the Roman 
campaign was passive resistance, they tried all the time, 



550 Gerjuany : Her People and Their Story. 

not only to fan the flame of discontent among their own 
population, but also to bring the imperial government 
into disrepute in the judgment of the world at large and 
the Protestants in particular. 

The struggle was not ended until May, 1887. It was 
then brought to a close by a vote in the Prussian Cham- 
ber of two hundred and forty-three against one hundred, 
cancelling nearly all the laws which it had passed against 
the Roman Church for sixteen years. 

For about fourteen years after the War of 1870, al- 
though France left Germany alone, the bitter feeling, 
especially at the loss of Alsace and Lorraine, in nowise 
diminished ; since France had never given up the idea 
of another war with Germany in order to recover these 
provinces. 

An incident connected with the autumn manoeuvres, 
related by an eye-witness, exhibits the feeling still 
entertained by the people themselves of Alsace and 
Lorraine. 

It was on the day of a great exhibition of military tac- 
tics, when the largest part of the German army marched 
through that part of the country. While the German 
population were all at the doors and windows, waving 
flags and handkerchiefs and shouting applause, the na- 
tive French people kept carefully inside, their houses 
closed and curtains drawn, exhibiting no sign of life — 
not a child, nor even an animal of any kind, was to be 
seen. It was more than a Sabbath stillness ; it was the 
silence of death, a sepulchral sadness ; for in the heart of 
each man and woman lay smothered the remembrance 
of the armies of their conquerors, who in 1870-187 1 went 
through their land to victory, leaving them like aliens 
while still in their own homes. Although the territory 
has always been rightfully German, it will be many gen- 



" Ktiltiirkampf. " 551 

erations before the French inhabitants become again 
assimilated as their ancestors were, before Louis XIV., 
snatching them from Germany's hands, made them, for 
almost two centuries, citizens of France. 

In 1885 France had sufficiently recovered to com- 
mence preparations for a conflict of revenge. Boulanger, 
the Minister of War, aiming to be declared Dictator 
himself, spent much time and money in reorganizing 
the army. The French government tried to unite with 
Russia, hoping, by being serviceable to her in her Orien- 
tal plans, to gain support in fighting Germany. Although 
Germany had joined the Triple Alliance mentioned above, 
she did not feel strong enough yet to cope with a united 
France and Russia, especially as the religious conflict 
had weakened her forces at home. The Centre in the 
Reichstag, which boasted that it could overthrow the 
Empire, was strengthened by the Socialists, Freethinkers, 
Poles, and members from Alsace and Lorraine ; and there 
was great uneasiness felt lest France should precipitate 
hostilities, as she had done in 1870. 

In view of all these issues, the imperial government 
laid a military bill before the Assembly, asking an ap- 
propriation for a period of seven years, in order to be 
able to make an addition of forty-one thousand men to 
the German army on the western frontier, to strengthen 
the fortresses, and to build railroads between strategic 
points. This would raise the regular army to the number 
of nearly half a million. 

This bill was called the " Septennat ; " and though it 
did not change the time of service of soldiers in the reg- 
ular army, the appropriation was demanded that it might 
maintain the additional force for seven years in peace 
or war. The danger of a conflict was so imminent that 
it seemed unwise to depend upon the shifting majorities 



5 52 Germany: Her People ajid Their Story. 

of the Diet, which were liable to be influenced by party 
considerations. 

Bismarck made a great speech in 1885 in the crowded 
Assembly. The diplomatic box was filled with repre- 
sentatives from all the great powers. The excitement 
was so great that hundreds in the street strove in vain 
to obtain a place in the building. As the chancellor 
rose to speak, the hall was hushed on account of the 
breathless interest his presence and ability inspired. He 
began : " Whether we are to have war with the French 
now or in ten years, I do not know. It depends upon 
the violently flowing currents of events in France. 
Should we find ourselves suddenly involved in hostility, 
we should have opportunity to judge the expressions of 
some of the speakers here who say, ' We will not pass 
this bill now; but in case the enemy invade our land, 
then we will give our last groschen,' etc., etc. Who 
ventures to predict that France will not make war, and 
that she is not determined to reconquer Alsace ? Why 
does no French ministry dare to say that they will re- 
nounce Strasburg and accept the peace of Frankfort? 
Because they know that public opinion in France lies 
like a powder-mine under their feet. The possibility of 
bloodshed is a sufficient justification for this bill. The 
probability of war diminishes in proportion to our mili- 
tary strength. If a victorious French army stood before 
the gates of Berlin, what conditions do you think they 
would impose upon us ? " The chancellor spoke for 
several hours. 

Moltke then advanced and took his stand. The great 
strategist had aged a good deal, and his voice had grown 
less strong. He spoke low, and only a few words. He 
was doubtless the highest military authority living ; and 
all the members, without reference to party, closed in a 



The Septennat. 553 

solid phalanx around him. He reminded the Assembly 
that their neighbors were all armed at a much greater 
relative cost than the expense demanded of the Diet. 
He made clear the necessity of passing the bill, since 
France had already put its army on a war footing at a 
cost double of that Germany required. He recalled the 
fact that France was determined to get back Alsace and 
Lorraine, and that Germany had decided that this should 
never be. He said, " We must be ready for war. The 
alliance with Austria is indeed valuable ; but my belief is 
that a great state stands most secure when it depends, 
under God, upon its own strength alone. A war, un- 
successful because carried on without sufficient means, 
would cost far more than the most expensive military 
organization. You know how many miseries follow a 
foreign invasion. We have, by sacrifices, established 
a strong Empire and unity. The whole world knows we 
seek no conquests; but let it also know that we intend 
to keep what we have already obtained. We owe the 
blessing of peace, which we have had for fifteen years, 
to the wisdom of our Emperor and the policy of his 
chancellor. But no policy, however wise and pacific, 
can be carried out without the support of a powerful 
army." 

The report of this debate was flashed in all directions 
over the whole world. Neither the nation nor impartial 
observers could believe that the Assembly would reject 
the bill, and thus publish to Europe that the Empire was 
weakened by internal dissensions. 

After much discussion and criticism, on January 14 the 
Septennat was rejected, and a compromise was patched 
up substituting a bill for three years in its place. 

Immediately after the vote, Bismarck read a message 
from the Emperor dissolving the Assembly. When the 



554 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

chancellor appeared in the street, the vehement applause 
from the populace showed that the nation sympathized 
with the government, and not with the Diet. 

Meanwhile the French war-party was working with all 
its energy to hasten the strife. Large purchases of horses 
were made, and temporary barracks erected on the Ger- 
man frontier. Belgium and Italy caught the fire, and also 
made preparations to arm their troops ; and Switzerland 
prepared to defend its neutrality. 

It seemed as if not only a French and German but a 
European war depended upon the adoption of the Septen- 
nat. The new election had been fixed for February 21st, 
five weeks after the adjournment of the important Diet. 
The Opposition tried to persuade the voters that the war- 
cry was an artifice for the purpose of increasing taxes, and 
obtaining seven years' service from every man instead of 
three. 

As in earlier times, the Pope turned the scale by ad- 
vising the Catholic Centre to abandon the opposition to 
the bill. The result of the election astonished everybody ; 
for on March 11 the new Diet passed the Septennat, with 
a majority of two hundred and twenty-seven against thirty- 
one, the Centre withholding their votes. It was only the 
Liberals, Socialists, Social Democrats, Poles, and mem- 
bers from Alsace, with other enemies to the Empire, who 
made up the minority. 

After this the war-clouds dispersed, and Europe once 
more breathed freely. 



Ejnperor Celebrates His Nmetieth Birthday. 555 



CHAPTER LIV, 

EMPEROR CELEBRATES HIS NINETIETH BIRTHDAY. WAR- 
CLOUDS. SICKNESS OF HIS SON. EMPEROR VVILLIAM's 

DEATH. FREDERICK WILLIAM BECOMES EMPEROR AS 

FREDERICK III. DEATH OF FREDERICK III. WILLIAM 

II. DECLARED EMPEROR. 

18S7— 1888 A.D. 

ON March 22, 1887, the Emperor celebrated his nine- 
tieth birthday, and declared that the nation could 
have made him no more valuable present than the Septen- 
nat. This, his last anniversary, was the highest point 
of Emperor William's earthly greatness; and every Ger- 
man prince was represented, or came in person. Austro- 
Hungary, England, Russia, Italy, Sweden and Norway, 
Belgium, Denmark, Roumania, Pope Leo XIII., the Turk- 
ish Sultan, Holland, and even France, sent deputies. 

Nevertheless, the closing period of the Emperor's life 
had been darkened by various sorrows. And it was dur- 
ing this last year of great trial that he gave utterance to 
these memorable words : " Dtirch Demutigunge7i habe ich 
mehr gelernt ah durch alle Siege " (Through humiliation 
I have learned more than through all victory). 

In 1 88 1 his nephew, Nicholas I. of Russia, had met a 
frightful death by assassination. 

His devoted people felt that only flowers should be 
strewn in his path ; but these flowers were mixed with 
missiles of combat, for in May, 1878, three years before 
the murder of his nephew, when he was returning home 



556 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

from a drive in Unter den Linden, a man fired three shots 
into his carriage, which no doubt would have proved fatal 
but for the Grand Duchess of Baden, who, bending over 
her father after the first shot, saved his life. 

A few weeks after another social fanatic fired two 
charges of mixed shot from a double-barrelled musket 
into the face of the Emperor, wounding him almost 
fatally about the head and arms. After three months he 
had sufficiently recovered to be taken to Gastein. On 
his return the assembled populace welcomed him with an 
enthusiasm such as even he had never before experienced. 
He continued to drive around town according to his 
former custom ; and some one seeing him remarked, 
"Your Majesty has been saved as if by a miracle." He 
replied, " No, not as if by a miracle, by a miracle." 
Another attempt was made on the life of the Emperor at 
the time of the dedication of the National Monument in 
1883. 

In 1877 the foundation of this monument had been 
laid on the " Niederwald " opposite Bingen, near the 
Rhine. This was the spot which Germany's sons had 
passed when sorrowing they went forth to battle, an emi- 
nence they had looked up to with pride when returning 
triumphant, laden with the spoils of war. The monument 
commemorates the foundation of the new Empire, and 
the German triumph over the French in 1870-187 1. It 
was conceived in the minds of the patriots as long ago as 
when Prussia, through Napoleon's despotism, was almost 
blotted out ; since even in her darkest hour her warriors 
and statesmen still looked forward to a consolidated 
Fatherland. It was completed in 1883, and is covered 
with reliefs illustrating scenes connected with the war. 

It has been said by some that it was on the " Nieder- 
wald " that Arminius scattered the legions of Varus, and 



IVar-C/ouds. 557 

that this was the reason why this spot was first selected 
as the prospective location for the memorial of Germany's 
victories and complete unity. 

Almost at the moment when all his subjects and all 
the great governments were doing him honor at the time 
of his ninetieth birthday, a large body of Russian troops 
collected upon the Prussian and Austrian frontier. Em- 
peror William called together his advisers, Von Moltke, 
his grandson Prince William (now Emperor), Waldersee, 
and other military authorities, and a significant response 
was given to his great neighbors in the shape of a bill 
called the Landsturm-law {La?uhaeh>^^ authorizing the 
state to add more than half a million men to the regu- 
lar army, thus enabling the Emperor to place one million 
men on the Russian frontier, a second million on the 
French frontier, and to hold a million in reserve. 

This bill, after a powerful and thrilling speech by Bis- 
marck, was accepted February 6, 1888. Austro-Hungary 
and Italy also sent troops to strengthen his forces. They 
were not intended to attack, but to defend. The validity 
of the words of Bismarck and Moltke uttered two years 
before was realized when the war-cloud disappeared. 
Those of Bismarck quoted earlier were : " The proba- 
bility of war diminishes in proportion to our military 
strength." Those of Moltke : " The whole world knows 
we are not seeking for conquest. Let the world know 
also that what we have obtained we intend to keep." 

The last dark shadow the Emperor felt had been grad- 
ually creeping over the imperial family. Just about the 
time of the festivities of the Emperor's birthday, a malady 
of the Crown Prince Frederick William, long feared, took 
a malignant shape. All foreign governments were touched 
with sympathy. The Emperor was filled with anguish at 
the sufferings of his son, and alarmed at the prospective 



558 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

loss to the throne. Notwithstanding his extreme age, he 
was preparing to visit the Crown Prince at San Remo, 
where the latter spent the winter, when he took cold. At 
this moment his beloved grandson, Prince Ludwig of 
Baden, died. 

The Emperor's cold grew worse, and at last the ever- 
increasing crowd of more than ten thousand who daily 
collected in the square commanding a view of the Em- 
peror's working-room looked in vain for him ; for it had 
been his daily habit to appear at the window overlook- 
ing the public square when the guard passed, and all 
travellers and strangers in Berlin were accustomed to 
await his appearance. On the 26th of February, the last 
time he presented himself, Princess William, now Em- 
press, was with him. She was holding her youngest son 
upon her arm, while her other three boys were standing 
about her. 

Although the Emperor's cold continued to grow worse, 
he had so often recovered from such attacks that at first 
there was no anxiety felt; but on the 7th of March the 
official bulletin stated that the strength of the Emperor 
was gradually ebbing. Those who were in Europe at 
that time, and had seen the royal family in their saddened 
vigils at San Remo, and had witnessed the pathetic 
grief while the Emperor Frederick was fast failing at 
Charlottenburg, could not help being impressed by the 
overwhelming disasters which were visiting the Hohen- 
zollern dynasty that year. Some have wondered if the 
"White Lady," who is said always to appear in the 
palaces about Berlin ever since the Countess of Orla- 
munde walked in her shroud, did not each night traverse 
the palaces around Unter den Linden, and with sighs try 
to prepare the descendants of that mighty dynasty for the 
great and tragic sorrows hanging over their heads. 



Emperor William's Death. 559 

The dying Emperor never again met his dying son, 
who so soon followed him. Prince William passed rap- 
idly between Berlin and San Remo in a round of 
"double duty." 

On March 8 all the royal household in Berlin, includ- 
ing Bismarck, Moltke, and Prince William his grandson, 
assembled in the room of the Emperor to receive his last 
words. To the chancellor he said, " Maintain honestly 
the Austrian Alliance. Be very careful and prudent with 
the Emperor of Russia." He spoke of other alliances, 
of the army, of the possibility of war. Sometimes his 
mind wandered, but he would immediately recur to the 
subjects nearest to his heart. Doctor Kogel frequently 
engaged in prayer, and once read from the Scriptures, 
to which the Emperor assented, giving his approval in 
solemn responses. The same divine afterwards read the 
Psalm, "Though I walkthrough the valley of the shadow 
of death, I will fear no evil ; for thou art with me ; thy 
rod and thy staff they comfort me." The Grand Duchess 
of Baden, using the affectionate German family diminu- 
tive, said, " Papachen, didst thou hear that?" The Em- 
peror answered, " That is beautiful." He then spoke 
with composure to every person present, took leave of 
all, and thanked Bismarck and Moltke affectionately 
for their great services. His daughter then asked him, 
" Papachen, does not so much speaking tire thee ? " He 
answered, " My child, I have no time to be tired." He 
then referred to the loss she had sustained in the death 
of her son, and the sorrow she had experienced at the 
bedside of her brother at San Remo, and was about to 
say that she was to experience this new sorrow, but he 
was obliged to pause with the sentence unfinished. 

At four o'clock on the morning of the 9th of March, 
the imperial family were summoned for the last time to 



560 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

the bedside of the Emperor. As Empress Augusta stood 
by his side he reached out his arm, asking for her hand. 
He took it, and did not again relinquish it. From time 
to time he opened his eyes, and when once a faint sound 
came from his Hps, those who listened heard him say, 
"My poor Fritz." These were his last words. The dy- 
ing man still held the hand of the Empress, but the 
spirit of the great warrior had taken its flight. "The 
hero of Koniggratz, the victor of Gravelotte," and he who 
had won an Empire, was no more. 

At the age when the ordinary man thinks of retiring 
to private life, Emperor William I. gained a great name 
for posterity. One of the grandest and worthiest careers 
ever vouchsafed to any prince came to an end on that 
early March morning of 1888. It was indeed true that 
he had never taken time to be tired ; for he had done his 
duty day by day faithfully and well, trusting to providence 
to crown his work. It is impossible to portray the sor- 
row felt at his death, not only by his own subjects, but by 
all people throughout the world ; it was like the bewailing 
in the early ages of the death of Charlemagne. In the 
fulness of his strength and victory he had inspired noth- 
ing but love. All that can be permitted to any human 
being was granted to him, — to be beloved and not feared 
by his subjects. He had been a faithful friend and a 
generous enemy ; he was high among men, but humble 
before God. He was as modest in peace as he had been 
victorious in war ; and some have compared him to Lin- 
coln in the former capacity, and to Washington in his 
efficiency and faithfulness in both peace and war. He 
could not have done his work without the wise aid of the 
two great leaders, Bismarck and Moltke, but neither of 
the two could have built up the state without him. With 
the help of the subordinate princes, he had re-established 



Emperor Williavi' s Death. 561 

the old German Empire, and governed it for eighteen 
years ; and now the oldest sovereign of them all, he left 
the Empire, though still in a state of transition, a pros- 
perous and mighty nation, an Empire of peace. 

At noon Prince Bismarck appeared in the Assembly 
suffused vi^ith tears; amidst the profound silence he an- 
nounced officially the Emperor's death. He told the 
members that the latter had mentioned only the day 
before two thoughts which had been to his last hours a 
profound consolation, — the wide sympathy which the sick- 
ness of his son had called out showed that the world 
believed in the Hohenzollern dynasty ; while it was a 
supreme joy to him that the union of the whole German 
nation, which he considered had been the mission of his 
life, was successfully accomplished. 

The body of the Emperor was placed in the mausoleum 
at Charlottenburg. To-day the reclining statues of him- 
self and Empress rest in the same silent chamber he had 
visited when he returned an Emperor from his trium- 
phal French campaign, and wept for joy over the tomb 
of his beautiful mother because he had fulfilled her last 
wish. 

The life of Frederick III. as Emperor vanished before it 
had time to leave great mark upon his people. In the four 
months of vigils, within sound of his dying voice, the love 
and confidence the people had felt for the brave Crown 
Prince on the battlefield was assured. He was fifty-seven 
years old when the nation greeted his accession. Every- 
thing that this world can give lay within his grasp ; yet 
from the first moment his step was too feeble to mount 
the brilliant staircase, and his hand too weak to grasp the 
sceptre of power. The shouts of the multitude ringing in 
praise of him sounded in his ear like distant music, which 
he would have listened to with delight had not the fatal 



562 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

truth always been present, that he was passing beyond, 
and descending into the deep shadows. 

Frederick III. was a man by nature eminently popular. 
He had a knightly bearing, and his countenance expressed 
a heart free from guile; affability, geniality, and good na- 
ture characterized his manners. He had inherited a rare 
intelligence from his mother, and this was strengthened 
by the influence of his wife. To the people of Prussia 
he had always been not only Crown Prince, but " Our 
Fritz" {Unser Fritz). In his relation to the people he 
was like Frederick the Great, always accessible, unassum- 
ing, sympathic, and cheery. He had, like the latter, a 
kind word even for the boys and girls he met; and his 
desire to know and participate in all the joys and sorrows 
of those who were soon to be his subjects made him until 
the end the idol of his people. 

The intellectual and artistic world had expected much 
of Frederick ; and being no idle dreamer, he might perhaps 
have done what he had planned. He desired this to be an 
age of learning and intellectual awakening, like the begin- 
ning of the last century ; and he intended to build a cathe- 
dral in Berlin like Westminster Abbey. This was to be the 
burial-place where Germany's illustrious dead might rest 
beside the Prussian kings and Germany's new Emperors. 
When completed it is to be a monument on which the 
story of Prussia's greatness developed from the deepest 
humiliation will be written, Germany's glory and unifica- 
tion, and the renown of Prussia's sons. 

Emperor William I. was regarded by the Conservatives 
exclusively as their Emperor. In like manner his son 
was claimed by the Radicals as the imperial embodiment 
of advanced ideas. He has been called the " Peace 
Emperor " in contrast to his father, who was named " Wil- 
liam the Victorious." He would no doubt have been 



Death of Frederick III. 563 

a citizen king rather than a military leader ; nevertheless, 
his conduct in the various battles in which he distin- 
guished himself during the war with France shows that 
he was brave and fearless, and that unlike Frederick Wil- 
liam I., his great-great-grandfather, he regarded the army 
as a means and not an end. To have seen the nation 
in its present tranquillity would have rejoiced his pure 
soul. 

It was not by political management that he gained the 
affection of the people, but by his tendencies and associa- 
tions. His friends, with whom he associated on equal 
terms, were chosen out of the most distinguished men of 
art. Next to the educated classes, the workingmen expected 
most from his reign. Thousands of the latter are said to 
have believed that in his accession the millennium dawned, 
and when he died they were filled with despair. It has 
been considered almost marvellous that when the blow 
came there was no uprising, none of the social upheavals 
and convulsions which patriotic peace-parties had pre- 
dicted would spring up among the lower classes. In fact, 
the latter class was the only factor which refrained from 
meddling in the strife which was continually going on 
around the Emperor's sick chamber in the three and a 
half months during which he was called to reign. 

While the Emperor was well, the family circle had 
rarely been separated ; and the influence of their lives in 
its simplicity was like that of his grandfather William 
III. and the charming Queen Louise, — an inspiration for 
good. Very near the hour of the Emperor's death, on 
the birthday of his daughter Sophie, now Crown Princess 
of Greece, having for some months been unable to speak, 
he wrote : " Dearest child, be always good and pious, as 
you have ever been." 

On the 25th of June, 1888, at the New Palace of Pots- 



564 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

dam, after a night of much suffering, Frederick the Good 
passed gently away, and left the throne to his son, Wil- 
liam II. His body lay in state in the Jasper Chamber 
for some days. Bismarck and Moltke, and other distin- 
guished military associates, were present, and shed tears 
of sorrow over their own and the nation's great loss. He 
had fallen prematurely ; but no records of history have 
produced such a noble example of patience and heroism, 
of physical and moral bravery. " Some say he was a 
hero, but some say he was a saint." 

On the morning of the same day a Diet was tempora- 
rily called, and Crown Prince William was declared Em- 
peror under the name of William II. 

The next evening a leading London journal published 
the following appropriate stanza : — 

" William has passed, bowing his silver crest. 
Like an old sea king going to his rest. 
Frederick, in fullest prime, with failing breath. 
But as heroic heart, has stooped to death ; 
Here at their tomb another Emperor keeps 
His vigils, whilst Germania bows and weeps. 
Heaven hold that sword unsheathed in that young hand, 
And crown with power and peace the Fatherland." 



Tlie Reign of Williatn II. 565 



CHAPTER LV. 

THE REIGN OF WILLIAM II. 
1887 — 1899 A.D. 

AT the time of the accession of William II., it seemed 
±\. that no monarch had ever succeeded to the throne 
under circumstances of so much perplexity. 

The age of Louis XIV. could be no other than a 
Golden Age in the minds of a people who had been com- 
pelled to endure the despicable government of the two 
preceding rulers. But how could a sovereign so young 
and inexperienced hope to be the popular successor of a 
grandfather pre-eminently victorious and just, and a father 
incomparably noble and brave, both of whom had lived, 
reigned, and passed away within the short space of the pre- 
vious six months. 

Many who were in Germany that fateful year remarked 
that feeling ran high, and that civil disturbances were im- 
pending. Unfavorable predictions were made in refer- 
ence to what the young ruler would be likely to do ; for 
until recently his ascent to the throne had been consid- 
ered merely as a remote probability. Although he had 
been married eight years, and was already surrounded by 
a promising family of three or four boys, he had only just 
finished his special studies as heir to the throne. 

William II. was born on the 27th of January, 1859. 
His mother was the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of 
England. She is now known as "Empress Frederick" 
of Germany. From the beginning he was educated as 
a soldier, and at the same time in the diplomatic tactics 



566 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

of the Great Chancellor. At first he attended the High 
School at Cassel ; and afterwards his boyhood was spent 
at the University in Bonn, studying the sciences, mathe- 
matics, political economy, jurisprudence, and the foreign 
languages. He was married in 1881 to Princess Augusta 
Victoria, daughter of Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein, 
the Duke of Augustenburg, and a year after he began his 
technical training for the civil duties of Emperor. Part of 
this rkgime was attending the sittings of the Diet, making 
abstracts of proceedings, drafting state papers, and other 
minutiae involving knowledge of the workings of the gov- 
ernment and the political machinery of the state. 

Up to the time of his accession to the throne, June 15, 
1888, William H. was an ardent admirer of Bismarck, and 
people then predicted that great harmony and unity of 
purpose would still exist between the two men ; for their 
mutual attachment had been almost like that of a father 
and son. Every fortnight, during his youth and early 
manhood, Prince William had been in the habit of visiting 
Friedrichsruhe, and each time he learned a valuable lesson 
in the affairs of state. He had also sat at the feet of 
Moltke, whose counsels he depended upon until the end 
of the latter's life. He always accorded the illustrious 
strategist the greatest deference, as is shown by an inci- 
dent that occurred just two weeks previous to Moltke's 
death, when they together visited the North and Baltic 
Sea Canal. At Rendsburg, where they halted after sail- 
ing thither by the Eider Canal, the garrison was called 
out to salute their Emperor, when William II. addressed 
the officers and populace as follows : " Retain your po- 
sition, for a greater sovereign approaches than your 
Emperor." Whereupon Moltke appeared, and received 
honors as heartily bestowed as those just rendered the 
monarch himself. 



TJie Reigji of Willimn II. 567 

Under old Emperor William's direction, Prince William 
had also been placed under Dr. Aeschenbach, President 
of the Province of Brandenburg, to learn administration 
methods ; but at that period he showed no aptitude for 
public business, the only real interest which absorbed him 
being the army. 

At the time of his marriage he had gone through the 
military training incident to his rank, and had shown 
a serious spirit about everything pertaining to military 
affairs. This he evinced afterwards by the training he 
inaugurated for his little boys, introducing into the nurs- 
ery of his children the methods of his ancestor, the father 
of Frederick the Great; for almost as soon as his eldest 
boys could walk, they were provided with miniature regi- 
mentals, and formed part of a drill corps. 

After he was Emperor, the army at first failed to recip- 
rocate his regard, and his unpopularity was the cause of 
some remark. But his devotion and efficiency in that 
branch of the public service, and his lofty example in all 
that required imitation, soon won respect and esteem. 
His attachment to the army and navy is brought out in 
a proclamation to them soon after his accession : " We 
belong to each other, I and the army ; thus we are born 
for one another, and thus we will stand together, in peace 
or storm, as God may will it." From the last clause it 
seemed to some that he would, at the first provocation, 
plunge the country into the old-time horrors of war. 

When opening his first Diet, William II., among other 
things, said, " Like King William I., I will, in conformity 
with my oath, be conscientiously mindful of the laws of 
the state and the rights of the people, and I will with the 
same conscientiousness guard and exercise the constitu- 
tional rights of the crown, in order to hand them at some 
future time intact to my successor on the throne." 



568 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

The Emperor's attitude at that time gave the Conserva- 
tive party, who were disheartened when Emperor Frede- 
rick's reign commenced, new courage. They expected, 
since he had been under the tuition of Bismarck, that he 
would carry out his grandfather's policy ; and it seemed in 
the early part of his reign that he might foster conserva- 
tive ideas. But it was not long before differences came 
up between him and the Great Chancellor. These were 
brought about on account of conservative measures which 
Bismarck wished executed. In any case, William II. 
meant it to be understood that he alone was to rule. 

His address to his "faithful Brandenburghers " was at 
one time criticised, but was afterwards recalled to his 
credit as an evidence that he wished to stand between 
classes and parties ; and the great revelation which he de- 
clared he had received from his " watch among the stars," 
wherein he was told to cast aside all party preferences, 
etc., was looked upon as the chimera of a youthful mind. 
But after the death of the Crown Prince of Austria, who 
was his most intimate friend, his character was greatly 
developed, and the people began to feel that he was sin- 
cere in desiring their good, that he recognized the need 
of their support, and realized the responsibilities of his 
position. The spring of 1890 brought on a new era in 
his reign, and his real statesmanship began to appear. 
Many war-clouds at first seemed ready to burst, but sub- 
sequent events have strengthened the belief that he is 
not averse to peace at home and tranquillity abroad. The 
Conservatives became alarmed, fearing an entire change 
of policy, and a general compromise on both sides helped 
to clear the political atmosphere. 

In 1 89 1 the Emperor seemed to develop an inclination 
towards social reform, and to feel that his noble grand- 
father had failed fully to understand the need of these 



The Reign of William II. 569 

reforms for the people. He laid this to Bismarck, who, 
he thought, had resisted every liberal tendency of the 
great Emperor's mind. It is said it was the dissimilarity 
in their views about the working-class which brought 
about the final rupture between the present Emperor and 
Bismarck, and the retirement of the Old Chancellor. As 
far back as 18S9 a question had arisen between them 
about the colliery owners and the colliers, which the Em- 
peror settled by an appeal to the sense of duty of the 
employers. After this he tried to promote better condi- 
tions in the life of the peasants, and endeavored to reform 
the Church, and in a labor conference ameliorations in 
the factory laws were proposed. The conciliatory spirit 
of the Emperor at this time somewhat changed the atti- 
tude of the Socialists ; and it is hoped that the violent 
tendencies of the faction will not revive, though the mon- 
arch has long since transferred his imperial and " fatherly " 
solicitude from the laboring-classes to the Junker land- 
owners. 

A few summers ago, as the Emperor was riding through 
Friedrichsstrasse, a group of bricklayers, waving their 
caps in the air, greeted the young ruler with the cry : 
'■'■ Ar better Kaiser'' (Emperor of the working-men). The 
Emperor then felt that never before had so great a trib- 
ute been rendered him. He once made the reply to a 
remark which called attention to the gratitude of the 
people for the stand he had taken, that it did not signify 
to him whether he received thanks from the masses or 
not, since it was the duty of the state to make the working- 
classes feel that they were a part of the social system of 
the government. 

A story which exhibits his zeal for the Church declares 
that he advised the board of aldermen, who waited upon 
him after his accession, to pay less attention to politics, 



5/0 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

and build more churches. In any case, through his 
efforts in carrying out Emperor Frederick's ideas, church- 
building has increased at a greater rate during the past 
five years, and more church edifices have been built 
during that time in Berlin than in the entire century 
previous. 

At one time the Emperor was criticised for carrying 
out too independent a line of conduct for the head of the 
nation ; and such acts were thought not to be the out- 
growth of wisdom, but rather the result of egotism. But 
it has come to be acknowledged by the people at present 
that he governs well, and is influenced by a high stan- 
dard both in religion and in morals, and that he desires 
justice and the progress of the nation. It is also more 
and more apparent that he does not covet absolutism, 
not even desiring the " enlightened despotism " of Fred- 
erick the Great. 

In a certain sense, the Emperor is not the Emperor of 
Germany, but the German Emperor. The Empire is, 
unlike the Russian form of sovereignty, a territorial unity, 
and, like our government, a federation of states, each 
state having its own ruler, and generally a distinct admin- 
istration ; the German Emperor is president in the same 
sense as our highest executive officer. He has no more 
legislative power than our president, while the " veto " is 
not given to him. The Constitution vests the Presidency 
of the Confederation (^Prcesidium des Biindes) in the King 
of Prussia, with the title of Emperor, and creates two 
legislative bodies, the Federal Council {Bnndesrat/i) and 
the Imperial Diet (Peichstag). In the Federal Council 
he acts through the Prussian Government, and in this 
body has the same power as any member of the Confed- 
eration ; and to the Diet he can only appeal through the 
Federal Council. 



The Reign of William II. 571 

Legislative Acts do not require the signature of the Em- 
peror in order to become laws, the concurrence of the 
Federal Council and the Diet being sufficient ; but the dec- 
laration of war and concluding of peace is accomplished in 
the name of the Emperor. He represents the Empire in 
international matters, enters into alliances and political 
treaties with foreign states, and receives ambassadors, etc. 
The consent, however, of the Federal Council is necessary 
before war can be finally declared, except in the event 
of an attack on federal territory or coast. The Emperor 
opens and closes the Federal Council and Diet, with the 
reservation that both bodies must be called together an- 
nually, elections held sixty days after the dissolution of 
the Reichstag, and a new Reichstag must meet within 
ninety days of this dissolution, any change in the length 
of the session of the Reichstag being determined by the 
Federal Diet. 

The Emperor may declare martial law should the public 
safety demand it. He appoints all imperial officials, 
beginning with the chancellor.. All decrees and regu- 
lations necessary to the promulgation and execution of 
imperial laws must be signed by both Emperor and 
chancellor. The President of the Federal Council is the 
chancellor -. and, he having been appointed by the Em- 
peror, this gives the casting vote to Prussia. The Fed- 
eral Council consists of fifty-eight members. 

The Reichstag is elected by universal suffrage, every 
German twenty-five years old having a vote in the con- 
stituency where he resides; but the political power is 
only nominally in the hands of the people ; it is the party 
leaders who vote, that is, the leaders give the word, and 
the voters follow their bidding. 

While in the Prussian and other state Diets travelling 
expenses and cost of living are paid to the deputies, the 



5/2 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

members of the Reichstag receive no compensation. In 
order to counterbalance the effect of miiversal suffrage 
and other democratic tendencies, Bismarck liad a clause 
introduced into the Constitution making payment of 
members impossible. Since 1873, however, they have the 
free use of railways, these being under government con- 
trol ; and this is all they are likely to receive at present. 
Before the Dark Ages, while the barbarians were dev- 
astating the old Empire, the deeds of the ancestors of 
the present generation are shrouded in mystery; and it 
is only known that for a century or two they were oc- 
cupied with their own internal affairs. During the pres- 
ent Emperor's reign, it may be said with almost as much 
reason that Germany has been absorbed exclusively in 
its domestic concerns ; but its politics are too bewildering 
to be to any extent within the province of the present 
volume. One critic has said that since the reconstruc- 
tion period after the wars of Napoleon, the Germans 
have lived on the borderland of the absolutism which 
Frederick the Great sOimuch coveted and the parlia- 
mentary government so much desired, the latter form 
of government being so far a failure on account of the 
subordination of national to party interests. The two 
parties. Conservative and Liberal, are divided into 
nearly a dozen factions, — "fractions," as the Germans 
call them. With all these parties, the average German 
may care little as to which fraction wins. This alleged 
lukewarmness is perhaps due to the fact that the Ger- 
mans as a nation are not as diligent newspaper readers 
at the present time as are the people of some other 
countries. It is said that the German politician's life 
is exceptionally easy ; since the people make no de- 
mands on his time, and his election to office is obtained 
without money or personal effort. 



The Reign of William II. • 573 

In the early years of William II. 's reign there was great 
agitation on account of the various parties. There were 
the Conservative, the National Liberal Party, the Radical 
Party, the Ultramontanes, the Anti-Semitic Party, the 
Social Democracy, etc., etc. 

In 1869 the Ultramontanes were the earliest party to 
take up the labor question ; since the Catholics under- 
stood the needs of the masses before the National Liberal 
Party contemplated such a problem as a social question, 
and the labor legislation of the present reign has received 
uninterrupted active Catholic support, the latter always 
favoring special laws for the workingmen. This fraction 
for years tried to induce Bismarck to pass measures 
forbidding Sunday work, and by their efforts all that was 
ever done was accomplished. They supported Bismarck 
in such social reform, declaring that he did not go far 
enough. 

The Catholics in Germany have from the first em- 
braced three classes, — the landed proprietors, the lawyers, 
and the priests. The leaders of the Ultramontanes, 
always have been from these classes. Dr. Windthorst, 
Bismarck's great adversary, died in 189 1, a year after Bis- 
marck had retired. He also was educated at Gottingen 
in the law, and entered the Prussian Diet and Reichstag 
in 1867. He was the leader of the Catholic Party for 
twenty years, and kept the Centre united. There never 
was any division in that party until 1893, when, on account 
of the "Army Bill," several members withdrew from 
Parliament. Small physically and short, he gained the 
name of "Little Excellency," a title with reference to his 
being the Hanoverian Minister of State, for in intellect 
he was recognized as a giant. Unlike Eugene Richter, 
the leader of the Radical Party, he never resorted to un- 
chivalrous methods, although he struck his hardest blows 



574 Gej'mafiy : Her People and Their Story. 

in his engagements with Bismarck. After their political 
differences came to an end, the two men became intimate 
friends. Windthorst showed his devotion to political 
life, when near the close, in a state of semi-consciousnesSj 
he, with his usual force and irony, delivered an address 
before an imaginary Diet. The Catholic Party never 
regained their strength after his death. 

After this the socialistic movement gained ground until 
1893 ; and out of seven and a half million votes, one and 
three-fourths million fell to socialistic candidates, and 
this was considered the strongest party in the nation. 
In Saxony their vote increased in the years from 1889 to 
1893 from one hundred and forty-nine thousand to two 
hundred and twenty thousand, and in Berlin it was not 
less; but in 1890, when the old legislation, which had 
lasted twelve years and had proved a failure, had been 
abolished, there began a new social era in Germany ; for 
after the Social Democrats no longer felt that they were 
persecuted, and understood that the working-people had 
the sympathy of the Emperor, the excitement gradually 
grew less and less ; for then it had been proved that the 
socialistic movement could not be suppressed by force. 

As late as 1892 the National Liberal Party was led by 
Dr. von Bennigsen, who also was educated at Gottingen. 
His fidelity to principle, and his intellectual superiority, 
gained for him rare influence in the Diet, although a 
leader of the parliamentary opposition. 

In 1 89 1 Von Moltke, the "Great Silent One," passed 
away, — a man who, throughout his great career, had 
never made an enemy or lost a friend. On his ninetieth 
birthday every school in Germany was closed for the 
" Moltke ^^/<? / " and when he died, a short time after, the 
whole country mourned. His seat in the German Reichs- 
tag, which he occupied on the 24th of April, 1891, the 



TJie Reign of William II. 575 

day of his death, was the next morning wreathed in 
green laurel. So lofty were Moltke's achievements that, 
though he had lived to so great an age, no ray of his 
glory had departed. A modern writer says of him, "He 
did not cease to win battles in 1870-187 1, but continued 
to gain them in anticipation up to the time of his death. 
He was the ever-successful strategist; and he is now 
remembered and judged as the great general who led the 
'armies of the eagle' nowhere save to triumph." He 
trained up a school of officers to follow in his footsteps; 
and although he is no more, his knowledge and experi- 
ence of the art of war have been handed down to the pres- 
ent German army. He was every inch a soldier, and his 
life business was war; notwithstanding this, he could 
never sufficiently deprecate its horrors. Some one re- 
marked to Bismarck during the French campaign that 
Moltke looked remarkably well. "Yes," Bismarck said ; 
"it is all the war. It is his business. I remember that 
when a Spanish war seemed imminent he looked at once 
ten years younger. When I told him the Hohenzollern 
prince had withdrawn, he immediately became quite old 
and worn looking ; but when the French made difficulties, 
he was at once fresh and young again." 

Prince Bismarck was made Duke of Lauenburg in 
1890. When in 1893 he was brought almost to death's 
door, Emperor William H. sent solicitous inquiries for 
his health, and after his recovery, on January 26, Bis- 
marck visited the Emperor in Berlin; and on February 19 
the visit was returned the Emperor at the time kissing 
both cheeks of the old statesman amidst the enthusias- 
tic cheers of the populace. This gave rise to a wide- 
spread report, to the great gratification of the nation, 
that a complete reconciliation had taken place between 
the two men. No political consequences attended it, 



57^ Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

however. Through all the former strife, Bismarck is 
said never to have uttered a harsh or angry word against 
the Emperor personally. 

On April i, 1895, Bismarck's eightieth birthday, many 
celebrations throughout the nation took place. The 23d 
of the preceding March a resolution was offered in the 
Reichstag delegating the president to convey congratu- 
lations to the prince ; but on account of the opposition 
of the Social Democrats, the measure was defeated by a 
considerable majority. The minority, however, went in 
a body to Bismarck's home in Friedrichsruhe on March 
25, congratulating him in person. On account of the 
failure of the enactment, the President and Vice-presi- 
dent of the Reichstag resigned, and the Emperor thought 
seriously of using his prerogative to dissolve the Assem- 
bly. He, together with the Crown Prince and the head of 
the civic and military department, on the 27th of March, 
paid their respects to the old chancellor, after which the 
Emperor gave a banquet in honor of the occasion. The 
Bundesrath without dissent voted congratulations, as did 
also the city council of Berlin. The great services which 
Bismarck had rendered the nation were noticed in all 
the journals except those of the Social Democrats. Bis- 
marck received many presents, and Magdeburg collected 
a large fund for the erection of a monument to his honor. 
In the Niederwald thousands from far and near assem- 
bled about the great national monument, and bonfires 
were lighted on all the mountain-tops out of enthusiasm 
for the great occasion. During his life fifty-one honorary 
titles were confered on the prince, only two of which 
reverted to the Crown at his death. 

On November 30, 1897, the Reichstag was opened by 
William II. The ceremony took place in the White Hall 
of the royal castle. The navy occupied the principal place 



TJie Reigji of William II. 577 

in the Emperor's opening address. He spoke of the in- 
adequacy of the navy at present to meet issues in case of 
warlike complications with nations abroad, declaring that 
it had not kept pace with the rapid growth of Germany's 
trans-oceanic interests, and that it does not support Ger- 
many's position at home. Then the Emperor touched on 
many other civil interests, calling attention to the neces- 
sity of placing the squadron in Eastern Asia at Kiao Chou 
Bay on account of the murder of two German mission- 
aries there, that reparation might be obtained, and also 
as security against similar lamentable events in mission 
stations under imperial protection. The squadron was 
immediately sent under the direction of Prince Henry, 
the Emperor's brother, and occupation was gained soon 
after. Closely following this event, a lease was secured 
which amounts to permanent occupation by Germany. 

In concluding the address the Emperor said, "Our 
political relations with foreign States are in every way 
gratifying, and valuable guaranties of their maintenance 
have been afforded me by allied and friendly monarchs, 
as evinced in my visits to Peterhof and Buda-Pest, and 
the capitals of other nations. All indications justify the 
expectation that, with God's help, we may in the future, 
as in the past, look forward to the peaceful development 
of Europe and the German Fatherland." 

The situation in 1898 has justified the prophetic utter- 
ances of the Emperor in this speech before the Diet; 
for during the year Germany has continued to keep her 
second place in the commercial supremacy of the world, 
England continuing first, and the United States following 
as third in commercial importance. 

In the winter of i8g8 the Emperor of Germany made 
distinguished efforts in behalf of humanity in the Drey- 
fus-Esterhazy matter, as he had done several years pre- 



5/8 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

vious in remitting the sentence of two French officers 
convicted in Leipsic for acting as spies in Germany. 

On July 30, 1898, the invincible spirit which domi- 
nated Europe for a score of years took its flight. Bis- 
marck, the man of iron, died as he had lived, unflinching 
at the end, yielding nothing to the great foe of all man- 
kind. 

In the month of October, 1898, like the crusaders of 
old, Emperor William I., with a long train of followers, set 
out for the Holy Land. Although unfriendly critics 
alleged political and commercial considerations as the 
animus of the visit, the chief point in view was mainly 
religious. The Sultan Abdul Hamid II. spared no pains 
or expense in conferring the highest honors on his Impe- 
rial friend. He sent a large escort to attend the Emperor ; 
and when on November loth his Majesty and the Em- 
press encamped in the ruins of the Temple of Baal, there 
were magnificent illuminations in their honor. The Em- 
peror unveiled a marble slab with commemorative inscrip- 
tions in both Turkish and German. 

Constantinople is said to be full of German function- 
aries of one kind and another ; and every station on the 
railroad through Asia Minor, which is steadily being 
pushed ahead, consists of a little German colony. No 
doubt the Emperor has great possibilities working in his 
brain of a final larger Germany, embracing the whole of 
the Teutonic race, with Trieste as a southern frontier, and 
the Tigris and Euphrates as her Eastern boundaries — 
the Empire as a mighty rival of each and all the great 
powers ; but the only point ostensibly gained by this 
Eastern tour was a gift received from the Sultan of a plot 
of ground at Jerusalem, said to have been the site of the 
abode of the Mother of Christ. The Emperor immedi- 
ately turned it over to the German Catholics as a conces- 



The Reign of William II. 579 

sion to their religious zeal, hoping thereby to unite the 
Catholic and Protestant elements so long in opposition, in 
a great religious revival. The Pope approved the act and 
sent acknowledgments. 

There was much anxiety felt in view of the Emperor's 
contemplated call at Cadiz on his return journey about 
the middle of November ; but this was soon dispelled by 
frequent and reiterated assurances from the German gov- 
ernment that their feelings to the United States at the 
great crisis in the settlement of the American Spanish 
War was most friendly. Although there had been much 
speculation and many vague rumors of Germany's sympa- 
thy for Spain during the late war, by the Emperor's judi- 
cious course on his return journey just as the Commission 
was in session at Paris, all apprehensions were dispelled, 
and an enteiite cordiale between the nations was estab- 
lished for all time. 

The most interesting phase of the present German 
Emperor's reign is his charming domestic life. In the 
winter season the family still live in the old Elector's 
palace across the Kdnigsbriicke, at the summit of which 
is the resplendent chapel erected by William TV., he 
being the last royal occupant up to the time of the 
present Emperor's accession to the throne. 

The palace has been lately restored, and at present 
equals in elegance that of any sovereign in the world. 
The royal family occupy apartments between the " Pil- 
lar Hall " and the " Star Hall " or " Star Chamber." The 
most magnificent room is the front hall, the Treppen 
Hall, which faces the palace square. The view is un- 
obstructed, even when the doors are closed ; for each 
door is an immense pane of plate glass, and the white 
and gray marble walls contrast strikingly with the deep 
red of the rich carpet on the marble stairs. When the 



580 Gei'many : Her People and Their Story. 

whole is flooded by the electric light, it is marvellous 
to behold. Much of the splendid rococo work in the 
Emperor's library was executed in Frederick the Great's 
time. This is destined to be an historic room ; for here 
state papers are signed, telegrams composed, and inven- 
tions made. The Empress's private apartments as well 
as reception rooms are panelled in greenish-gray marble, 
and are resplendent with glittering mirrors which serve 
as doors; but the Empress herself is the genuine Ger- 
man Hausfrau^ and superintends all her domestic affairs, 
great simplicity in the style of living being kept up, and 
no extravagance in any department of the household 
being allowed; for the Empress intends that the family 
life of the palace shall be a model for both high and 
low throughout the land. The children are brought up 
in a Spartan manner, and the mother sees that their 
religious training is that which will make them pious 
and God-fearing citizens whose influence will elevate 
and bless the nation. 

During the present reign an innovation has taken place 
in respect to the use of German instead of French in the 
menu, the French system having been in vogue ever since 
the time of Frederick the Great, when French became 
the language of the German court. The method of serv- 
ing dinner differs from that of almost every other coun- 
try, in the fact that it lasts hardly an hour ; and, as at 
Napoleon's table, any one who gives too much time to 
talk, finds himself at the close of the meal in a state of 
semi-starvation. 

At the end of the Carnival, which takes place in 
February, is the time-honored ball, where as many as 
twelve hundred guests are invited. The waltz is the 
principal dance, the minuet also having been lately in- 
troduced. The Emperor and Empress make their round 



TJie Reign of William II. 581 

of the guests in the White Hall before dancing begins. 
They then join in one quadrille, and after this they 
deport themselves like any host and hostess of the court 
in a large reception. 

Early in the summer season the royal family, with 
the exception of the three eldest boys, migrate to the 
New Palace in Potsdam, where they remain until the be- 
ginning of the New Year. This building was erected in 
1763 by Frederick the Great, and was his favorite palace 
next to Sans Souci. It is built in the Dutch style, and 
has two hundred rooms, a concert hall, reception rooms, 
and the Jasper Chamber. The palace was furnished by 
Frederick the Great, and has been renovated by Wil- 
liam II. The apartments of Frederick the Great remain 
unchanged, his music-stand and spinnet being still seen. 
Emperor William inherits his great ancestor's taste for 
music, and the children of the imperial family enjoy the 
same with equal relish. 

The Jasper Chamber, where the late Emperor Frede- 
rick lay in state, has its walls embellished with gems and 
costly shells brought by naturalists and friends from all 
parts of the world for the purpose of adorning this unique 
room ; and some have been found by the Emperor and 
Empress in their extensive travels. It is in this apart- 
ment that the royal family spend Christmas evening, the 
nine Christmas-trees signifying the number of the mem- 
bers of their family. The three eldest boys then come 
home from their school at Plon, where they are receiv- 
ing their early training. At ten years of age, according 
to an old custom, each of the princes enters the First 
Regiment of Foot Guards as the youngest officer, receiv- 
ing the rank of lieutenant. Just before leaving for home, 
on the 24th of December, Tifefe is given in honor of the 
princes. Since all of the boys from their infancy have 



582 Germany : Her People and Their Story. 

had their mimic drill, the kind of manoeuvring men- 
tioned above is not too much for their youthful physique ; 
and like their father, they are growing up with a martial 
spirit and a military ambition. The parades of this regi- 
ment create great interest among the citizens of Berlin, 
and the members of the Guard view these youthful sol- 
diers wdth something akin to adoration. Prince Adalbert, 
the third boy, has also the rank of junior lieutenant in 
the navy. The Order of the Black Eagle is the insignia 
of the Guard. The princes always wear blue suits like 
those of the German sailors. 

The tiny Princess Victoria Louise is the pet of the 
family, and all of the boys vie with each other in showing 
her every little attention. After the Crown Prince, Frede- 
rick William Victor, born on the 6th of May, 1882, comes 
Eitel Frederick, then Adalbert and August, and then 
Oscar and Joachim, some of them regular old Branden- 
burgher names. They are healthy, genuine German chil- 
dren, and go to bed at nine o'clock. 

The Emperor spends much of the time in summer on 
his yacht, often accompanied by his family. His jour- 
neys also are numberless, and of hunting he is very fond. 
During the time of the autumn manoeuvres he is away 
for some weeks with the army. 

When at Potsdam the royal family attend the Friedens- 
kirche. The Empress is the patroness of many chari- 
table associations ; she supports hospitals, and is the 
superintendent of the Great Women's Association which 
does so much for charity. But the most of her alms-giv- 
ing is done in accordance with the command of Christ : 
" Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." 

On January i the court is moved to the colossal palace 
at Berlin, where at present a great deal of old-time court 
etiquette has been abolished, so that even the Emperor's 



TJie Reign of William II. 583 

staff is much reduced. The opening festivities of the 
year, however, commence as formerly by religious ser- 
vices in the Royal Chapel, and after this until midday 
there is a reception in the Throne Room. 

In a few days the three lieutenants return to Holstein, 
and at Plon continue their education in the Cadets Corps 
with many other boys of their own age; in this compan- 
ionship they learn a great number of things which will 
help them as future sovereigns, and by means of which 
they are stimulated to higher advancement in their 
work. Four of the Emperor's generals are of the House 
of Hohenzollern, and these young officers hope some day 
to occupy similar places in the German army. 

And thus the years are passing, and these young people 
are being fitted to fill the high places in German society 
and politics. This devoted home-life is like a tonic to the 
nation ; for no people can learn to be good and great with- 
out the example of their sovereign, which should always 
embody lofty aspirations, real piety, and genuine worth. 

We quote from one of the most eminent German histo- 
rians: "We must expect in an age of the highest attain- 
ments that the brightest light and the darkest shade will 
alternate ; for near to brilliant successes lurk heavy dan- 
gers, and no prophet can lift the veil of the future. We 
of the present generation have passed through the tran- 
sition stage, and have survived. A new Empire has been 
formed from an old and fossilized Germany. From a 
highly cultured people we have become a great political 
nation, and our highest pleasure ought to be in the ser- 
vice of our country and in works for humanity; for to 
whom much is given, from them much will be required, 
and can by us be accomplished." 

The last year of the nineteenth century presents an 
outlook to the German nation which will gladden every 



584 Germany: Her People and Their Story. 

loyal heart. If we look back to an old map of ancient 
Germania, we notice several little divisions, at an early 
period occupied by the embryo tribes which Arminius 
fought for and. died to save. In these primitive nations 
the spark lay dormant which kindled the sacred flame 
now illuminating the republican institutions of our own 
beloved land, and from the embers have sprung all the 
contingents of our modern civilization, which furnishes 
such a glorious example to the peoples of the world. 

To-day there is a new map of Germany; and on it 
the original small divisions are emerged into a vast 
and renowned Empire, already arbiter of the destiny of 
Europe, and when the Eastern question is settled, a domi- 
nant factor in Christianizing the world. 

Could the spirit of brave Arminius now visit the land 
he redeemed ; could the birds which fly round the Kyf- 
hauser mountain tell Frederick Barbarossa the secrets of 
liberty they have learned ; could old Martin Luther awake 
to life again, and Stein and Scharnhorst and Gneisenau 
stand before their monuments in Berlin ; could William, 
the Great and Victorious, who consolidated Germany, 
rise up at the side of his war-horse, no longer bitted and 
bridled ; and Bismarck, the Strong, the Old Iron Chan- 
cellor, the star in the firmament of Europe's great men, 
revisit the land so lately bereft by the flight of his spirit, 
— then would the chivalrous young Emperor stand up 
before all, not looking back ; but beckoning on to the 
twentieth century, he would point out a great destiny for 
the nation to these fearless souls, and to the spirits of 
all the brave men who have helped to rescue from oppres- 
sion their Fatherland. 



INDEX. 



Abdul Asis, Sultan, 544. 

Adalbert, Archbishop of Bremen, 96. 

Adelaide, 78. 

Adolf of Nassau, 167 ; death, 16S. 

Adolphus, 22. 

yEneas Sylvius, description of the 
times, 214. 

Agnes of Aquitaine, 93, 95. 

Aistolphus, King of Lombards, 31 ; 
subdued by Pepin, 32. 

Aix-la-Chapelle, the favorite resort 
of Charlemagne, 45. 

Alaric, King of West Goths, before 
Athens, 21 ; besieges Rome; death 
of, 22. 

Albert the Bear, 122 ; lays basis of 
Prussia, 125 ; pleasing to Barba- 
rossa, 131. 

Albert of Hapsburg, 166; legend of 
Tell, 168 ; death of Albert, 117. 

Albert II. of Austria, 197. 

Albert of Brandenburg, 247 ; his 
atrocities, 248 ; defeated by Mau- 
rice, 248. 

Albert, Archduke, 264. 

Alberich of Verona, 129. 

Alboin, 29. 

Alexander the Great, 19. 

Alexander V., 189. 

Alexander I. of Russia, 421 ; friend- 
ship with Prussia, 424 ; sends as- 
surances of friendship, 426 ; won 
over by Napoleon at Tilsit, 428 ; 
breaks with Napoleon, 441 ; guest 



585 



of Frederick William III., 450 ; 
still friendly to France, 460 ; pro- 
poses Elba for Napoleon, 459 ; 
Alexander's Holy Alliance, 46S. 

Allod, 58. 

Alphonso of Castile, 157. 

Alsace, 333, 519, 550, 555. 

Alva, Duke of, 243. 

Amadeus, Victor, 331. 

Amiens, 534. 

Amsdorf, Nicholas of, 234. 

Anabaptists, 229. 

Andreas Hofer, 425. 

Andrassy, 544. 

Anselm von Justingen, 141. 

Arcadius, 21. 

Arch of Triumph, 536. 

Ariovistus, 12. 

Arminius, conquest at Teutoburger 
Forest, 1 5 ; character as liberator 
of his country, 17. 

Arnulf, 54. 

Arnold of Brescia, 128. 

Arnold of Melchthal, 169. 

Arnold von Winkelried, 187. 

Arndt, 409. 

Artois, Count of, 412. 

Aryan race, civilization of, 10. 

Aspern, battle of, 436. 

Athanaric, King of West Goths, 21. 

Attalus, 22. 

Attila, King of the Huns, 23. 

Auction of Empire, 19. 

Auerstadt, 425. 



586 



Index. 



Augsburg Interim, 245. 

Augustus, reign of, 14; grief at Va- 
rus's defeat, 16 ; his death, 16. 

Augustus II., 326. 

Augustus III., 380; death, 400. 

Augusta Victoria, Empress, 566. 

Augustenburg, Prince of, 494 ; ar- 
rangement for liim after war, 503. 

Aurogallus, 231. 

Austerlitz, battle of, 423. 

Austro-Prussian War (Seven Weeks' 
War), 49S ; events prior to, 496 ; 

Austria's plan, 497 ; South German 
States formed of Bavaria, Baden, 
Hesse, Darmstadt, Wiirtemberg, 

503- 
Austro-Hungary, 505. 
Autharis, 29. 
Avars, 40. 

Baden, Grand Duchess of, 556. 

Baltic Sea Canal, Emperor visits it, 
566. 

Baldur, legend of, 11. 

Baldwin, 126. 

Banner, 302. 

Barrack emperors, 19. 

Basques, 36. 

Battle of the Three Emperors, 423. 

Bautzen, battle of, 453. 

Bazaine, 515, 520; falls back on 
Metz, 521. 

Beatrice, wife of Barbarossa, 130, 133. 

Beauharnais, 422. 

Beauharnais, Eugene, 451. 

Beauharnais, Grand Duchess Ste- 
phanie, 510. 

Beauville, harbor of, 528. 

Beethoven, 409. 

Belfort, 535 ; ceded back to France, 
540. 

Belleisle, Marshal, 369. 

Bern, 481. 

Benedict XIII., 189. 



Bennigsen, Dr. von, 574. 

Berlin final entry of troops, 540 ; 
description of, 541. 

Berg, 256. 

Bertha, wife of Rudolf II. of Bur- 
gundy, 74. 

Bertha of Susa, 97. 

Bernadotte, 423 ; adopted as Crown 
Prince of Sweden, 440 ; attitude 
in War of Liberation, 451. 

Bernhard, 52. 

Berengarius II., 79. 

Bernhard of Saxe- Weimar, 284, 294, 
299, 300 ; his death, 301 ; discipline 
of his troops, 307. 

Bethlen Gabor, 263. 

Bishop Hatto, 55 ; anecdote con- 
nected with Henry I., 68. 

Bismarck, first appearance, 474 ; re- 
ligious stand, 475 ; place at head 
of government, 489 ; unpopularity, 
490 ; appointed Chancellor, 504 ; 
in Oriental question, 544 ; attempt 
on his life, 547 ; speech on the 
Septennat, 552 ; on Landsturm-law, 
557; announcement of Emperor's 
death, 561 ; admiration of William 
II. for him, 566; made Duke of 
Lauenburg, 575 ; made Prince and 
given Friedrichsruhe, 542 ; tele- 
graphs to Paris meeting of Bene- 
detti, 513. 

Bleda, King of the Huns, 23. 

Blenheim, 329. 

Blondel, 137. 

Bliicher, 438 ; before Waterloo, 463. 

Blumenthal, General von, 500. 

Bogislaw XIX., 281 ; promise to 
Great Elector, 314. 

Bohemians, time of Charles the Fat, 

54- 
Boleslaw of Poland, 90. 
Bonifacius, the Apostle of Germany, 

32. 



Index. 



587 



Bonifacius IX., Pope, 188. 
Borodino, battle of, 443. 
Boulanger, 551. 
Brossart, 525 ; Benedek, 500. 
Bourbaki, 515 ; relieves Belfort, 531; 

retreat into Switzerland, army 

disbands, 531. 
Brandenburg House, genealogy of, 

309- 
Brandenburg, Count, 4S4. 
Breslau, 366. 
Brunswick- Bevern, 3S5. 
Brunswick, Ferdinand of, 391. 
Brunswick, Duke of, 425 ; death ; 

liis son ; Black Brunswickers, 426. 
Brunhilde, 28. 

Bruno, Archbisliop of Cologne, 78. 
Busento, Alaric buried in, 22. 

Cresar, 12 ; recognizes German valor 
12. 

Calixtines, 194. 

Calvin, 249. 

Camden Hotel, 25S. 

Campo Formio, Peace at, 417. 

Canossa, Castle of, 79. 

Canrobert, Marslial, 515. 

Canute, 90. 

Caracalla imitates Germans, 19. 

Caraffa, 326. 

Carl, Blind, 495. 

Carlovingian Line, 52. 

Casimer, King of Poland, 314. 

Catharine \\. of Russia ; feelings 
change to Frederick II. 394 ; parti- 
tion of Poland, 400. 

Cayetan, Cardinal, 217, 221. 

Celts, migration and civilization of, 
II. 

Chalons, 515. 

Chalons, battle with Huns, 23. 

Chamilly, anecdote, 318. 

Changarnier at Metz, 529. 

Charlemagne, beginning of reign, 32 ; 



contest with Desiderius, 34 ; sec- 
ond visit to Rome, 35 ; in Spain, 
36 ; coronation as Emperor, 42 ; 
death of, 44 ; retrospect of char- 
acter, 45. 

Charlotte, Queen of VViirtemberg,i25. 

Charlottenburg, palace at, 330 ; 
mausoleum, 539. 

Charles, Archduke, 327. 

Charles, Archduke, 417, 420. 

Charles Augustus of Weimar, 409. 

Charles of Anjou, 155. 

Charles of Bavaria, 354 ; claims the 
crown of Austria ; proclaimed 
Archduke, 365 ; made Emperor, 
366 ; death, 369. 

Charles of Bohemia, 179. 

Charles of Brunswick, 414. 

Charles of Lorraine, 369, 385. 

Charles of Valois, 173. 

Charles II. of Spain, 327. 

Charles IV., 180 ; intrigue to gain 
the crown, 181 ; his Golden Bull, 
I S3; anecdotes, 184. 

Charles Martel (the Hammer), 28. 

Charles the Bald, 53. 

Charles the Bold of Burgundy, 201. 

Charles the Fat, 54. 

Charles Theodore of Bavaria, 401. 

Charles the Silly, 55. 

Charles V., King of Spain, 216 ; 
Emperor of Germany, 224 ; con- 
sideration for Luther, 232 ; sacks 
Rome, 235 ; permits reading Pro- 
testant Confession, 237 ; fights the 
Turks, 239 ; attack upon Metz, 
247 ; abdicates in Germany, death, 
249 ; summary of character, 250. 

Charles VI. of Austria, 333; death, 

347- 
Charles VIII. of France. 203. 
Charles X. of Sweden, 314; genius 

in attack against Danes ; death, 

315- 



588 



Index. 



Charles XII. of Sweden, 326 ; ban- 
ishment, death, 334. 

Charles XIII. of Sweden, 440. 

Cherusci, the tribe of Arminius, 15. 

Childeric the last Merovingian, 32. 

Child of Apulia, 139. 

Chilperic, 27. 

Chivalry, 60. 

Chrienihilde, 24. 

Christianity widespread after strug- 
gle, 20. 

Christian IV. of Denmark, 274, 
275. 

Christian of Anhalt, 266. 

Christian of Brunswick (Mad Chris- 
tian), 269, 270 ; death, 274. 

Christian VIII., reference to, 482. 

Christina, daughter of Gustavus, 
280 ; abdicates, 314. 

Cimbrians conquered by Marius, 12. 

Claudius Civilis, 17. 

Clement VII., 233 ; refuses to sup- 
port Emperor, 239. 

Clothilde, 27. 

Clovis the Great, 27. 

Coalition against France, first, 414; 
second, 419 ; third, 422. 

College of Electors, 68. 

Concordat of Worms, no. 

Congress of Vienna, 466. 

Conrad, Henry IV. 's son, 107. 

Conrad I., 68. . 

Conrad II., 89. 

Conrad III. in Crusades, 113 ; chosen 
king, 123 ; contention with Henry 
the Proud, 124. 

Conradino, 154 ; death on scaffold, 
156. 

Conrad IV. crowned King of Ger- 
many, 149 ; controversy with Henry 
Raspe, 152 ; controversy with Wil- 
liam of Holland, 153 ; death, 154. 

Conrad of Marburg, 146 ; cruelty to 
St. Elizabeth, 148. 



Constance, daughter of King of 
Sicily, 135. 

Constance of Aragon, 140. 

Continental Blockade, 431. 

Coronation of German kings, 75. 

Corvinus, Matthew, 199, 201, 203. 

Cotta, Frau, 218. 

Council at Constance, 191. 

Count Clam-Gallas, 500. 

Courcelles, battle of, 521. 

Cranach, 234. 

Crusade, first, in ; second, 113, 
126; third, 114, 135; children's, 
114; legend, 115: fourth, fifth, 
sixth, seventh, eighth and last, 116. 

Cuirassiers, 518. 

Culture Struggle, 545. 

Cumberland, Duke of, 384. 

Ciistrin, 332. 

Dark Ages, 65. 

Daun, General, 385 ; his victory at 

Hochkirch, 389. 
Davoust, 425. 
Debinsky, 481. 
Defenestration, 260. 
Desiderius, t,^. 
Dessau, battle at, 274. 
Dessau, Leopold of, 331, 341 ; victory 

at Kesselsdorf, 371 ; death, 372. 
Didius Julianus, 19. 
Dietrich Kagelwit, 184. 
Dietrich of Berne, 24. 
Dijon, 534. 

Diocletian, Ger. under, 19. 
Dog-carrying, 130. 
Douay, 517, 525. 
Domitius ^nobarbus, 14. 
Dresden, battle of, 454. 
Dresden, Treaty of, 372. 
Dreysa Needle-Guns, 499. 
Drusus, campaign of, 14. 
Duchies, 4S2, 495. 
Duke of Friedland ; see Wallenstein. 



Index. 



589 



Duke of Marlborough ; see Marl- 
borough. 

Duras, 324. 

Diirer Albrecht, 212 ; legend, 213 ; 
died at Worms, 225. 

Durindana, 36. 

Eberhard, brother of Conrad I., 69. 

Edith, wife of Otto the Great, 74, 75. 

Edict of Restitution, 275. 

Edict of Nantes, 321. 

Edward III. of England, iSi ; crown 
offered to, 181. 

Egbert, 96. 

Eginhard, 47. 

Ehresberg, 68. 

Eleanor, wife of Gustavus, 285. 

Elizabeth of Hungary, 147. 

Elizabeth, mother of Conradino, 154. 

Elizabeth, sister Wenzel III., 174. 

Elizabeth, wife of Albert II., 199. 

Elizabeth, wife Frederick of Palati- 
nate, 265, 269. 

Elizabeth of Brunswick-Bevern, 354. 

Elizabeth of Russia, 373 ; Czarina, 
394 ; death, 394. 

Empress Frederick, 565. 

Enzio, sonof Frederick II., 150 ; dies 
in prison, 152. 

Eperies, tribunal at, 320. 

Erasmus, 221. 

Eric of Brunswick, 228. 

Erfurt, Congress of, 431. 

Ernest of Swabia, 91. 

Ernest of Meissen, 181. 

Eudo.xia, 24. 

Eugene IV., Pope, 196, 198. 

Eugene of Savoy, 319; commences 
brilliant career, 328 ; enters Aus- 
trian service, 329 ; made a German 
prince, 331 ; becomes adviser to 
Emp. Joseph ; death, 347. 

Eugenie, Empress, 511, 515; as re- 
gent, 520 ; escape from Tuileries 



and flight to England, 526 ; retires 

to Chiselhurst, 5 28. 
Evans, dentist, rescues Empress 

Eugenie, 528. 
Exarchs, Fall of, 31. 
Eylau, 427. 

Faidherbe, General, 529, 530. 

Favre, Jules, 527, 538. 

Federal Diet, 479. 

Felix v.. Pope, 198. 

Ferdinand, Archduke, grandson of 
Maximilian, 216 ; assumes govern- 
ment of Germany, 229, 249 ; death, 

253- 

Ferdinand II. of Styria, 255 ; King of 
Bohemia, 258 ; revolt against, 263 ; 
Emperor, 264 ; appoints Wallen- 
stein, 272 ; Edict of Restitution, 
276; removes Wallen stein, 277 ; in 
a difficult position, 287 ; death, 300. 

Ferdinand III., 299 ; succeeds his 
father, 301. 

Ferdinand of Bavaria, candidate for 
crown, 327. 

Ferdinand of Brunswick, 391, 395. 

Ferdinand I. of Austria abdicates, 

479- 
Feudal System, 57. 

Feudal tenure, 58. 

Fichte, John GottUeb, 437. 

Fickenstein, 390. 

Fief, 58. 

Finck, 381. 

Five good emperors, civilization in- 
troduced, 18. 

Fontenay, battle, at Brook of Burgun- 
dians, 53. 

Forest of Arden, 524. 

Francis II. of Austria, 412, 538 ; de- 
feat at Austeriitz ; relinquishes 
title of Emperor of Germany, 423 ; 
entertains the nation, 460 ; death, 
479- 



590 



Index. 



Francis 1. of France, 223. 

Francis of Lorraine, 347 ; Emperor, 
371 ; death, 39S. 

Francis Joseph, 479; issues procla- 
mation, 497 ; Fore Parliament, 479. 

Franco-Prussian War, 510 ; occasion 
of, 511, 512; declaration of, 514; 
no alliances, 515; Emperor Wil- 
liam's proclamation and Napole- 
on's, 515; length of ; terms of settle- 
ment, and indemnity; trophies, 536. 

Frankenhausen, battle of, 231. 

Frankfort-on-Main, Treaty of, 540. 

Franks, 27. 

Fredegonde, 28. 

Frederick von Buren, 107. 

Frederick Barbarossa, 114; election, 
127; crowned Emperor, 129 ; mar- 
ries Beatrice, 130 ; relations with 
the Pope, 131 ; attitude towards 
Milan, 132 ; his defeat by the 
Lombards, 133 ; festival at Mainz, 
134 ; death, 135 ; national idea of, 
136. 

Frederick IL, child of Apulia, 139 ; 
struggle for imperial power, 141 ; 
takes refuge in Constance, 142 ; 
crowned as Emperor ; makes his 
crusade, 144 ; King of Jerusalem, 
145 ; devotion to Italy, 146 ; trouble 
with his son, 14S ; marriage with 
Isabel, 149; his religion, 150; de- 
posed by Innocent IX., 151 ; death ; 
accomplishments, 153. 

Frederick of Austria, 155, 156. 

Frederick of Hohenzollern, 162. 

Frederick tlie Fair of Austria, 176; 
captivity, 177. 

Frederick of Nuremburg, 189. 

Frederick III., Emperor, 198 ; im- 
provements in his time, 200 ; death, 
203. 

Frederick the Wise. 21S ; takes his 
stand for Luther, 223 ; death, 232. 



Frederick V. of Palatinate, 265 ; poor 
policy, 266; flight from Prague, 
26S ; loss of Palatinate and death, 
270. 

Frederick William of Brandenburg, 
303 ; condition of his land, 301 ; 
early life, 312; care for his sub- 
jects, 313 ; at Fehrbellin, 315 ; 
Stralsund, 316 ; secret treaty with 
Louis XIV., 317; his later acts 
and death, 322. 

Frederick I. of Prussia, 329 ; extrava- 
gance, 330 ; death, 331. 

Frederick William I., 335 ; arbitrary 
character, 336 ; scorn for pomp, 
■},yj ; tobacco Parliament, 338 ; 
military genius, 339 ; Potsdam 
Guards (long fellows), 340; treat- 
ment of Frederick II., 342 ; his 
religious views, 343. 

Frederick the Great, 348 ; anecdotes 
of his youth, 349 ; his straitened 
circumstances, 356 ; King of Prus- 
sia, 357; abolishes old methods, 
358 ; personal supervision, 359 ; 
his natural courage, 360 ; begin- 
ning of political life, 361 : deter- 
mination to take Silesia, 363 ; 
victory at MoUwitz, 364 ; victory 
at Czaslaw, 366 ; returns in tri- 
umph, 367 ; adds to his capital, 
368 ; loss of battle through Count 
Traun, 369; victory at Hohen- 
friedberg, 370; victory at Sorr, 
Hennersdorf, and Kesselsdor, 371 ; 
obtains Silesia ; Treaty of Aresden, 
372 ; daily life in time of peace, 
374 ; victories in Saxony, 380 ; 
sets out on a new struggle (Seven 
Years' War), 38 1 ; victory before 
Prague, 382 ; defeat at Kollin, 383 ; 
discouragement, 384 ; victory at 
Rossbach, 385 ; at Leuthen, 515, 
525; Zorndorf, 388; defeated at 



Index. 



591 



Hochkirch, 389 ; defeated at K6- 
nersdorf, 390 ; care for his soldiers, 
391 ; victories at Liegnitz and Tor- 
gau, 392, 393 ; exertions for pros- 
perity of country in peace, 397 ; 
friendship for Joseph II., 399 ; 
attitude towards United States, 
404 ; anecdotes of later life, 405 ; 
death, 406 ; influence of his life, 
408. 

Frederick William II., 410 ; retires 
from coalition, 414 ; death, 418. 

Frederick William III., 418 ; vascil- 
lating course ; final decision for 
war, 425 ; flight to Konigsberg, 
426 ; yields all to Napoleon, 433 ; 
further weakness, 446 ; authorizes 
York to act, 44S ; exonerates 
York, 450 ; his injustice to the 
Liberals, 471 ; death, 472. 

Frederick Augustus of Saxony, 453. 

Frederick William IV., coronation, 
473 ; tries to silence opposition, 
470 ; revolution of 1848, 477 ; de- 
clines the Empire, 480 ; softening 
of the brain, 485 ; death, 487. 

Frederick III., Emperor of New 
Germany, 515 ; beginning of sick- 
ness, 557 ; made Emperor, 561 ; 
his character, 562 ; death, 564. 

Frederick, Prince of Augustenburg, 

494. 503- 

Frederick VII. of Denmark, 482. 

Frederick Charles, 49S, 522, 534. 

Frederick, Empress, 565. 

Frederick William Victor (Crown 
Prince), 5S2, 

French Revolution, 410, 413. 

Freundsburg, 225, 235. 

Frey, god of Celts, 11. 

Frigga, 11; with reference to Lom- 
bards, 29. 

Fritigern, West Goth, 20. 

Froben, Emanuel, 316. 



Fugger the Jew, 250. 
Fiist, John, 204. 

Gaisberg, 517. 

Gallas, Count, 299. 

Gambetta seeks aid, 533 ; raises 

three armies, 529. 
Gardens, Zoological, 534. 
Gastein, 494. 
Gauls insurrection, under Claudius 

Civilis, 17. 
Gauls, migrations of, 11. 
Gerbert (Pope Sylvester), 83. 
Geiseric, 24. 

George II. of England, 379. 
George William of Brandenburg, 

2S2, 2S3. 
Gepidre, 29. 

Gerard of Eppenstein, 167. 
German Empire, epitome of, 570; 

interim in, 53S. 
Germania, 548. 
Germani, meaning and etymology 

of, 12. 
Germanicus, raid into Germany, 16. 
German kings crowned three times, 75. 
German residence in France, 520. 
Germans, early civilization of, 13. 
Germany confined to home interests, 

572; German Parliament and 

Constitution, 541. 
Gertrude, daughter of Lothair, 122. 
Gessler, 168. 
Gisela, 91. 
Giselbert, 70. 
Gleim, 409. 

Gneisenau, 460, 486, 541. 
Godfrey of Bouillon, 106 ; in the Cru- 
sade, 112; King of Jerusalem, 113. 
Godfrey of Strasburg, 160. 
Goethe, 409, 506. 
Golden Bull, 182. 
Golden Milestone, 14, 26. 
Gordon, 296. 



592 



Index. 



Gorgy, 481. 

Gortchakoff, 544. 

Goths separate from Vandals, 20. 

Gramont, Duke de, 511. 

Granson, battle of, 202. 

Granville, 244. 

Gratian, 20. 

Gravelotte, battle of, 521 ; called 
King's battle, 522. 

Great Elector; see Frederick Wil- 
liam of Brandenburg. 

Gregory VII., refuses Papal chair, 
94 ; refuses to divorce Henry IV., 
97 ; his character, 99 ; innovations 
in the church, 100; concerning the 
priesthood, loi ; issues the ban 
against Henry IV., 104 ; in prison 
in St. Angelo and his death, 107. 

Gregory IX., Pope, 144 ; reinstalled 
by Frederick II., 146 ; trouble 
with Frederick, 150; death, 157. 

Gregory X., Pope, 162. 

Gregory XII., 189. 

Grouchy, 463. 

Guelphs and Ghibellines, 122 ; be- 
ginning of struggle, 125. 

Guerinde Montglave, 39. 

Guiscard, Robert, 104. 

Gunhilde, 90. 

Gunther, 24. 

Gunther of Schwarzburg, 181. 

Gustavus Adolphus, 279 ; his prepa- 
ration before leaving, 2S0 ; per- 
sonal appearance, 281 ; battle near 
Leipsic, 283 ; his proclamation of 
religious freedom, 284 ; in Bavaria, 
285 ; battle near the Leek, 286 ; 
final leave of Eleanor, 290 ; death 
at Lutzen, 292. 

Gustavus Vasa, 279. 

Gutenberg, 204. 

Haddick, 392. 
Hadrian, 33. 



Hadrian IV., 128 ; speaks disrespect- 
fully of Empire, 131. 

Hadrian VI., 233. 

Hagen, 24. 

Hall of Mirrors, 537. 

Hanno, Archbishop, 96. 

Hanseatic League, 159. 

Hardenburg, 42S, 449. 

Haroun-al-Raschid, 43. 

Hartzburg, 404. 

Haugwitz, 424. 

Haydn, 409. 

Hecker, 480. 

Heinau, 481. 

Hennersdorf, 371. 

Henry, brother of Otto the Great, 76. 

Henry I., the Fowler, 67 ; chosen 
king, 69 ; won back Alsace and 
Lorraine, 70 ; improvements by, 
71 ; conquests, 72 ; war with Hun- 
garians, jy 

Henry II. of England, 130. 

Henry II., the Saint, 84 ; anecdotes, 
85. 

Henry III., 92 ; introduction of Tre- 
uga Dei, 93. 

Henry III. of Luxemburg, 173; 
crowned as Emperor in Rome, 
174; death, 175. 

Henry IV., contention with the Sax- 
ons, 98 ; resistance against Hilde- 
brand, 102; before Gregory VII., 
105 ; receives aid and crushes Hilde- 
brand, 107 ; death, 109. 

Henry of Carinthia, 174. 

Henry of Kempten, 81. 

Henry of Sieveneichen, 133. 

Henry, Prince, 393 ; defeats Austri- 
ans at Freiburg, 395. 

Henry Raspe, 152. 

Henry, son of Frederick II., 148. 

Henry the Lion, 128 ; extends his 
territory, 131 ; treachery of, 133 ; 
punishment of, 134. 



Index. 



593 



Henry the Proud, 122 ; his death, 

124. 
Henry V., treatment of his father, 

108; his reign, 109. 
Henry VI. crowned king, 135 ; 

crowned Emperor, 137 ; death, 139, 
Hermaneric, leader of Goths, 20. 
Hermingarde, 33. 
Herrison, Count de, 538. 
Hildebrand ; see Gregory VH, 
Hofer, Andrew, 435. 
Hohenfriedberg, battle, 370. 
Hohenlinden, 420. 
Hohenlohe, Cardinal Prince, 547. 
Hohenlohe, Prince, 425. 
Hohenzollern House, genealogy of, 

309- 
Holstein, 482, 495. 
Holy Alliance, 468. 
Honorius, 21. 

Honorius crowns Frederick H., 144. 
Hubertsburg, treaty of, 395. 
Hugo, Victor, 533. 
Humboldt, 460. 
Hungarians under Louis the Child, 

56 ; under Henry the Fowler, 70 ; 

under Otto the Great, "]■!,. 
Huns, 23. 

Hunyadi, General, 199. 
Huss, 190 ; opposes the Pope, 191 ; 

burned as a heretic, 192. 
Hussite War, 193. 

lUo, 295. 

Imperial Guard, 464, 465, 571. 

Imperial crown and states engaged, 

537- 

Indulgences, 219. 

Innocent II., 122. 

Innocent III., 139 ; crowns Otto IV., 
140; declares for Frederick II., 
141 ; his innovations and death, 

143- 
Innocent IV., 151. 



Interregnum, 157. 
Idvestiture, Right of, 100. 
lolanthe, second wife of Frederick 

II., 144 ; Isabel, third wife, 148. 
Iron Crown of Lombardy, 35. 
Iron Cross, Order of and description 

of, 486. 
Irruption of the Barbarians, 27. 
Italy co-operates with Prussia, 496. 

Jahn, 449. 

Jancowitz, 302. 

Jena, battle of, 425. 

Jerome of Prague, 190. 

Jobst, 189. 

Johanna, 210, 216. 

John XIX., Pope, 86. 

John de Brienne, 144. 

John, nephew of Albert of Hapsburg, 

171. 
John, son of Henry VII., 174. 
John XXII., Pope, 176. 
John of Bohemia, 180. 
John of Nepomuk, 186. 
John of Nassau, 188. 
John XXIII., Pope, 191. 
John Frederick of Saxony, 242 ; 

moral courage of, 245 ; released, 

246. 
John George of Saxony, 282, 283, 

284, 2S7, 299. 
John, Archduke, 420. 
Joseph I., 331 ; refuses Louis XIV.'s 

concessions, 332 ; death, 383. 
Joseph II., admiration for Frederick 

the Great, 399 ; in connection with 

partition of Poland, 400 ; claims 

Bavaria, 401 ; anecdote, 402 ; death, 

407 ; influence of his life, 40S. 
Josephine, Empress, 437. 
Jourdain, 417. 
Judith, second wife of Louis the 

Pious, 53. 
Julian, 20. 



594 



Index. 



Julius II., Pope, 209. 
Julich, 256. 
Junker, George, 229. 

Kalkstein, Colonel, 352. 
Kamba, Assembly at. 88. 
Karloman, son of Louis the German, 

54- 
Karloman, son of Pepin the Short, 

32. 
Katharine von Bora, 234. 
Katzbach, 454. 
Katte, 342. 
Kaunitz, 379. 
Kepler, 254. 
Kesselsdor, 371. 
Kiel, 494. 
Kinsky, 296. 
Kleist, 409. 

Klopstock and Kant, 409. 
Knighthood ; see Chivalry, also 72. 
Kolonitsch, 319. 
Kollin, battle of, 383. 
Koniginhof, 499. 
Koniggratz, account of battle, 500, 

501. 
Kotzebue, 469. 
Kornersdorf, 390. 
Korner, 409, 448. 
Kosciusko, 415. 
Kossuth, 481. 
Kunimunde, 29. 
Kyberg, Count Werner of, 91. 

Labian, Treaty of, 314. 

Ladies' Peace, 235. 

Ladislas of Poland, 198 ; crowned, 

199. 
Ladmirault, 515. 
Landau, town of, 515. 
Langensalza, battle of, 98. 
Langensalza, Prussian battle, 498. 
Lauenburg, Duke of, 292. 
Laudon, General, 38S, 393. 



Lebrun, 525. 

Leipsic, battle of (Battle of the 
People), 455. 

Leo III., aided by Charles, and 
crowns him, 42. 

Leo VIIL, Pope, So. 

Leopold of Austria, 121, 137. 

Leopold, brother of Frederick of 
Austria, 176, 177. 

Leo X., 209 ; Golden Age of, 232. 

Leopold, Ferdinand's son, 276. 

Leopold of Austria, 314; flees from 
Vienna, 319; duplicity of, 321; 
death of, 331. 

Leopold II. 's marriage, 398; Em- 
peror of Austria, 41 1 ; death, 412. 

Leopold of Hohenzollern, 510. 

Leslie, 296. 

Lessing, 409. 

Leszczynski, 325, 346. 

Leuthen, battle of, 386. 

Liebnitz, 327. 

Lien explanation, 58. 

Lien system, 59. 

Life tenure, 57. 

Ligny, 463- 

Lobositz, 380. 

Lombards, legend of, 29 ; migration 
to Northern Italy, 30. 

Lombard cities, Barbarossa's treat- 
ment of, 132. 

Lorraine, 53, 54, 70, 325, 333, 535, 
550. 

Lorraine, Duke of, 320. 

Lothair, 52. 

Lothair of Saxony, 121. 

Louisa Henrietta, and her hymns, 

313- 
Louis the Pious, coronation of, 43. 
Louis, son of Lothair, 53. 
Louis the German, 54. 
Louis the Younger, son of Louis the 

German, 54. 
Louis the Child, 55. 



Index. 



595 



Louis VII., no. 

Louis tiie Severe, 175. 

Louis V. of Bavaria, 175 ; victory 
over Frederick, 177 ; reconciliation, 
178 ; unpopularity, and dethroned, 
179 ; death, iSo. 

Louis of Brandenburg, 181. 

Louis XL, 217. 

Louis XIV. of France, 303 ; his 
diplomatic relations with Great 
Elector, 314 ; at Cleves, 315 ; treat- 
ment of German rulers ; appear- 
ance in Strasburg, 317; stirs up 
Hungarians, 319 ; revokes the Edict 
of Nantes, 321 ; destruction of 
Rhine territory, 324 ; War of Span- 
ish Succession, 328 ; negotiations 
for peace, 232. 

Louis, King of Holland, 439. 

Louis XVIII., 459. 

Louise, Queen, 418, 424, 425, 429, 
430 ; her conference with Napo- 
leon, 429 ; death, 439. 

Louvois, French Minister of War, 
318. 

Ludwig, King of Hungary, 147. 

Ludwig II., King of Bavaria, 154; 
aids Conradin, 155. 

Ludolf, 91. 

Luther, Martin, 217 ; puts up his 
Theses, 219 ; discovers Bible, 221 ; 
triumphs over Leo X.'s legate, 
222 ; burning the Papal Bull, 223 ; 
applies to Charles V., 224 ; before 
the Diet, 225 ; carried to the Wart- 
burg, 229 ; completes Bible, 231 ; 
marries Katharine von Bora, 234 ; 
" Ein' Feste Burg," 237 ; desire 
for peace, 240 ; death, 241. 

Liitzen, battle of, 291. 

Mad Christian, 269. 
Magyars, 55, 7°- 
Malplaquet, 332. 



Malmo, Treaty of, 485. 

Manfred, 154 ; made king, 155. 

Mansfield, 261, 267, 268 ; death, 274. 

Manteuffel, 4S4, 524. 

Marbod, enemy of Arminius, 15. 

Marcus Aurelius builds towns in 
Germany, 18. 

Margaret, heir of Tyrol, 179. 

Margarethe, 203 ; importance in his- 
tory, 208 ; connection with Ladies' 
Peace, 235. 

Marius, conquest of Germans, 12. 

Maria Theresa, 347 ; Queen of Aus- 
tria, 361 ; contention for the 
crown, 362 ; crowned queen, 365, 
368 ; celebrates triumph, 369 ; her 
grief at loss of Silesia, 373 ; alli- 
ance with France, 379 ; finally 
gives up Silesia, 395 ; consents to 
partition of Poland, 401 ; death, 

403- 
Maria Louisa, 437. 
Marks, 40. 
Marlborough, 32S ; his character, 

329 ; given a dukedom, 331 ; further 

victories, 332. 
Mars la Tour, 521. 
Marseillaise, 513. 
Martinitz, 259. 
Mary of Brabant, 143. 
Mary of Burgundy, 202 ; marries 

Maximilian, 203. 
Mathilde, 70, 80. 
Mathilde of Tuscany, 105. 
Matthias, 257 ; made Emperor, 258 ; 

appoints Ferdinand King of 

Bohemia, 259 ; death, 262. 
Maupertius, 358. 
Maurice, 242 ; traitor to Charles, 

244 ; death, 246. 
Max Joseph, 369. 
Maximilian, 202 ; legends, 206 ; 

methods of government, 209 ; order 

during his reign, 211 ; death, 217. 



596 



Index. 



Maximilian II., 253. 

Maximilian of Bavaria, 268, 285 ; 

made Elector, 287 ; lays down his 

arms, 303 ; death, 401. 
Maximus, Emperor, Roman, 19. 
McMahon, 515, 520; carriage con- 
tained, 518; destruction of army, 

524 ; at Chalons, 521. 
Mecklenburg, 495. 
Meerwig, 27. 

Meinwerk (anecdote), 85. 
Melac, 328. 
Melanchthon, Philip, 231 ; death, 

252. 
Meltitz, Carl von, 222. 
Mendelssohn, 409. 
Merovingian kings, 27. 
Metternich, 453 ; struggle with the 

people, 468. 
Metz, 247; siege of, 523; famine, 

529; surrender, 530. 
Meuse batteries, 524. 
Michaud, 459. 
Middle Ages, epoch of, 65. 
Milan, Barbarossa's barbarity, 132. 
Mockern, French defeated at, 451. 
Mohammed IV., 319. 
Mollwitz, battle of, 364. 
Moltke, 487, 499, 512 ; at Gravelotte, 

522 ; sketch of life, 567. 
Montholieu, 354. 
Monza, 35. 
Moreau, 416. 
Morgarten, battle of, 176. 
Morris of Saxony, 372. 
Mozart, 409. 
Miildorf, battle of, 1 76. 
Miinzer, Thomas, 231. 
Murat, 456. 

Nachod, 499. 
Nafels, 188. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, 416 ; at St. 
Bernard, 420 ; Emperor of France, 



422 ; enters Vienna, 423 ; gives away 
kingdoms, 424 ; enters Berlin, 426 ; 
interview with Queen Louise, 429 ; 
in Spain, 434 ; enters Vienna, 436 ; 
divorced from Josephine, 437 ; at 
the height of his power, 440 ; holds 
grand court at Dresden, 442 ; be- 
ginning of Russian campaign, 
443 ; before Moscow, 444 ; tries to 
make terms with Austria, 453 ; be- 
gins to lose courage, 454 ; refuses 
overtures, 458 ; dethroned, 459 ; 
lands again in France, 462 ; defeat 
at Waterloo, 465. 
Napoleon III., Louis, sketch of 
career, 508, 509, 510; reasons for 
war, 511, 512 ; courage gives way, 

525 ; meets Bismarck at Donchery 
and Emperor William at Bellevue, 

526 ; retires to Wilhelmshohe, 527 ; 
at Chiselhurst, 526 ; protests 
against deposing his dynasty ; 
death, 527. 

Narses, 29. 

National Assembly, 535. 

Neipperg, 364. 

Neuman, 296. 

Ney, Marshal, 463. 

Nibelungen Legends, 24. 

Nicholas II., Pope, 101. 

Nicholas, boy leader of Crusade, 144. 

Noiseville and Nouart, 524. 

Nordlingen, battle at, 299. 

Norsemen in time of Charlemagne, 

40; of Charles the Fat, 54. 
North German Confederation, 537; 

Diet of, 504. 
North German Parliament, what it 

included, 505. 
" Nun danket alle Gott," sung at 

Leuthen, Leipsic, Waterloo, K6- 

niggratz, Gravelotte, and Sedan, 

455-465, 501- 
Nyberg, battle of, 315. 



Index. 



597 



Nymwegen, Peace of, 316. 

Odoacer, 25. 

Ofen-Pesth, 506. 

Oldenburg, Duke of, 441. 

Oldenburg, 495. 

Oliver, 38. 

Ollivier, 510. 

Olmiitz, 4S4, 502. 

Oppeln, 364. 

Order of the Cross, 486. 

Order of Merit, 501. 

Orleans, 534. 

Otto the Great, 67 ; trouble with 
brother, 76 ; with Hungarians, "]"} ; 
with Berengarius, 79 ; rescues 
Adelaide and marries her ; both 
crowned in Rome, 79 ; conquests 
in Italy, So ; anecdote of Henry of 
Kempten, Si. 

Otto the Illustrious, 68. 

Otto II. crowned when a boy, 78 ; 
final coronation, 82. 

Otto III., 84. 

Otto of Bavaria, 98. 

Otto of Nordheim, 99. 

Otto of Wittelbach, 129, 140. 

Otto IV. made Emperor, 140 ; turned 
away from Constance, 142 ; defeat 
and death, 143. 

Otto of Brunswick, 149. 

Ottocar of Bohemia, 161 ; humilia- 
tion, 163. 

Oudenard, 332. 

Oxenstiern, 279 ; takes charge of 
affairs, 294 ; armistice with Great 
Elector, 313. 

Paladins, 36. 

Palakao, 520, 527 ; frenzy of people 

at news of Sedan, 497. 
Palm, 434. 
Pappenheim, 292, 293 ; at Liitzen, 

292 ; his death, 293. 



Partition of Empire, 421. 

Partition of Poland, first, 400 ; 
second, 415. 

Paris, siege of, 532 ; its fortifications 
and ramparts, 433 ; famine ; bom- 
bardment, 534 ; surrender ; Com- 
mune, terms of capitulation, 535 ; 
final treaty, and indemnity and 
trophies, 535, 536. 

Patterson, Miss, 436. 

Paul I. of Russia, 421. 

Peace of Augsburg, 249. 

Peace of Prague ; terms for Prussia 
and Italy, 502, 503. 

Peace of Utrecht, 333. 

Peace of Westphalia, its conditions, 

304- 
Peasants' War, 230, 244. 
Pepin of Heristal, 2S. 
Pepin, son of Charlemagne, 40. 
Pepin, son of Lothair, 52. 
Pepin the Short, 28 ; crowning of, 

31 ; patrician of Rome, 32. 
Pestel, Colonel, at Saarbrucken, 517. 
Peter, Ernest, Count Mansfield, 261. 
Peter de Vinea, 152. 
Peter III., 3S0 ; assassinated, 394. 
Peter of Amiens, in. 
Peter the Great, 32S. 
Philip Augustus of France, 114. 
Philip II., son of Charles V., 245, 

249. 
Philip of Hesse, treatment by Charles 

v., 228, 236. 
Philip of Swabia, 139 ; crowned, 

140. 
Philip, son of Maximilian ; father of 

Charles V, 210, 216. 
Philip the Bold, 201. 
Philip the Fair, 173. 
Philip the Good, 201. 
Philip V. of Anjou, 328 ; candidate 

for Spanish crown, 32S. 
Piccolomini, 295. 



598 



Index. 



Piedmontese, Napoleon defeats Aus- 

trians at, 416. 
Pied Piper of Hamelin, 115. 
Pius VI., Pope, 400. 
Pius VII., Pope, 436 ; arrested, 437. 
Placidia, 23. 

Podiebrand, George, 201. 
Poitiers, battle of, 28. 
Polish Succession, 346. 
Pomeranians arrive, 522 ; Moltke 

looks anxiously, and episode, 522 ; 
Pompadour, Madame de, 379. 
Poniatowski, 456. 
Potsdam Guards, 340. 
Prague, battle of, 382. 
Prague, Treaty of, 299. 
Presburg, Treaty of, 423. 
President Prim, 510. 
Pretorian Guard, 19. 
Prince Imperial at Saarbrucken, 517 ; 

at Chiselhurst, 524. 
Printing, 204. 

Proclamation of Empire, 537. 
Procop Holy, 195. 

Protestant, the word first used, 236. 
Prussian army sets out, 49S ; order 

of divisions, 499. 
Public lands, 57. 
Pytheas, Captain, i ; discovery of 

Germany, 9. 

Quantz, Frederick the Great's music- 
master, 348, 349. 

Radetzky, 479. 
RamiUies, battle of, 332. 
Raspe ; see Henry Raspe. 
Ratisbon surrendered, 299. 
Recoule, 352. 
Reformation, 218. 
Reille, General, 525, 526. 
Revolution of 1848, 476. 
Richard of Cornwall, 157; death, 160. 
Richard Coeur de Lion, 114 ; in cru- 
sades, 137 ; taken prisoner, 137. 



Richelieu, 272, 299. 

Ricimer, King of Suevi, 24. 

Rienzi, 182. 

Right of Investiture, 100. 

Robert of Naples, 175. 

Robert the Pious, King of France, 86. 

Roi Faineants, 28. 

Roland, Henry IV.'s ambassador, 
102. 

Roland (Orlando) ; his death, 36 ; 
legends of his youth, 37. 

Romulus, Augustulus, 25. 

Roon, Albert von, 479, 499, 512, 522 ; 
sketch of, 507. 

Rosamond, 29. 

Rossbach, 385. 

Rouge, 474. 

Royal Letter indorsed by Matthias, 
261 ; torn up by Ferdinand, 268. 

Royal Stewards, 31. 

Ruckert, 451. 

Rudolf, brother of Louis of Bava- 
ria, 176. 

Rudolf II., 254 ; Royal Letter ; his 
peculiarities, 257. 

Rudolf II., King of Swiss Bur- 
gundy, 74, 90. 

Rudolf of Hapsburg, 161 ; Italian 
policy, 162 ; encounter with Otto- 
car, 163; internal policy, 164 ; his 
simple habits, 165 ; anecdotes, 166. 

Rudolf of Swabia, 106. 

Rufinus, 21. 

Rupert, Count Palatine, 188. 

Russian campaign, 442. 

Ryde, Empress Eugenie landed at, 
528. 

Ryswick, Treaty of, 325. 

Saarbrucken, only triumph of Napo- 
leon III. ; his son's baptism of fire, 

517- 
Sachs, Hans, 212. 
Sadowa, 500. 



Index. 



599 



Saladin, Sultan, 135. 

Sand, 469. 

San Stefano, Treaty of, 544. 

Saracens, 36. 

Saxons, conquests of, t^t^. 

Saxons last revolt, 44 ; revolution 

under Wittikind, 39. 
Saxony joins German Confederation, 

505. 
Scharnhorst, 432, 438; death, 452. 
Schelling, 409. 
Schenclcendorf, 451. 
Schiller, 409, 506. 
Schill, 435. 

Schleswig-Holstein War, 4S2. 
Schlick, 197. 
Schoffer, Peter, 204. 
Schwarzenburg, 312. 
Schwarzenberg, 442, 455. 
Schwerin, 3S2. 
Sedan, scene at the village, 525 ; after 

capitulation, 527 ; news of victory 

all over the world, 529. 
Seidlitz, General, 385 ; wins battle 

of Zorndorf, 388. 
Sempach, 187. 
Seni, astrologer, 290. 
Septennat, 551. 
Serfs, 57. 

Sergestes, father of Thusnelda, 116. 
Seven Years' War, 381 ; end of, 395. 
Seven Weeks' War, 497. 
Sickingen, Franz von, 223. 
Siegbert, 27. 

Siegfried, King of Burgundy, 24. 
Sigimar, chief of the Cherusci, 15. 
Sigismund, 1S8; recognized as Em- 
peror, 189; controversy with Huss, 

191 ; death, 195. 
Sigismund, John, 256. 
Silesia, beginning of struggle, 362 : 

final taking of, 395. 
Slavata, 259. 
Sluggard kings, 28. 



Smalkaldic League, 23S. 

Smolensk, 443. 

Sobiesky, 319; death of, 326. 

Society and customs after Dark 
Ages, iiS. 

Sonsfield, 355. 

Sophia Dorothea, 348. 

Sorr, 371. 

Soubise, 384. 

Southern Germany, 537. 

South German States, 494. 

Spanish Succession, 328. 

Spicheren, storming of, 519. 

Starenburg, 319. 

St. Bernard, 1 13. 

Steffen, 449. 

Stein reorganizes army, 432 ; returns 
to Prussia, 446. 

St. Elizabeth of Hungary, 147, 

Stephen, Pope, 32. 

Stephen, boy leader of Crusade, 114. 

Stilicho, 21. 

St. Jacob, 200. 

Stone of the Swedes, 452. 

St. Petersburg, 539. 

St. Privat, 521. 

Strasburg, final storming and surren- 
der of fortress, 529. 

Struve, 479, 480. 

Succession of Cleves, 256. 

Surwarrow, 415. 

Swepperman, Seifur of, 176. 

Sylvester, %■},. 

Taborites, 194. 

Tallard, 329. 

Talleyrand, 424, 429; his cunning; 
influences Austria, 461. 

Tersky, 295. 

Teschen, Peace of, 402. 

Tetzel, John, 219 ; hislast hours, 220. 

Teutoburger Forest, defeat of Ro- 
mans, 15. 

Theodolinda, 29. 



6oo 



Index. 



Theodosius the Great, King of East 
and West, 21. 

Theodoric, the East Goth, 25 ; his 
reign, 26. 

Theophania, So, 82. 

Theses, 95, 219. 

Thiers, 532 ; seeks foreign aid, 535. 

Thirty years of peace, 470. 

Thirty Years' War, 265 ; state of 
country after, 305. 

Thor, II. 

Three Kings' League, 483. 

Thun, Count, 4S9. 

Thurm, Count, 259; before Vienna 
263. 

Thusnelda, daughter of Sergestes, 16. 

Tiberius, Roman governor, 14. 

Tilly, in battle of White Mountain, 
267 ; his methods, 269 ; defeats 
Christian IV. at Lutter, 274; bar- 
barity at Magdeburg, 282 ; wound- 
ed before Leipsic, 284 ; death after 
battle of Lech, 286. 

Tilsit Conference, 429 ; Treaty of, 

430- 
Tobacco Parliament, 33S. 
Tokay, Palace of Attila, 24. 
Torgau, 393. 
Torstensohn, 302. 
Town meeting, origin of, 13. 
Traun, Count, 369. 
Trautenau, 499. 
Treuga Dei, 92. 

Treve,Thionville, and Tuileries, 515. 
Trochu, General, 535, 527. 
Tycho Brahe, 254. 

Ulric of Hutten, 223. 
Urban IL, Pope, 135. 
Urban IV., Pope, 155. 

Valens, Emperor, slain by Fritigern, 

20. 
Valentinian III., 24. 
Vandals separated from Goths, 20. 



Vandals sack Rome, 24. 

Varus Quintillius, barbarity of, 14. 

Vassals, 58. 

Vehm, 215. 

Velleda, 14. 

Venice, 30. 

Vercellae, conquest of Cimbrii at, 12. 

Verdun, Treaty of, 53. 

Victor Emanuel, 545. 

Victoria Louise, 582. 

Vienna, battle at, 319. 

Vienna, 539. 

Vienna, Peace of, 436. 

Villeins, 59. 

Vinea ; see Peter de. 

Voltaire, friendship with Frederick, 

353 ; at Potsdam, 398. 
Vosges, passes of, 517. 

Wagner, 409. 

Wagram, battle of, 436. 

Waiblingers, 123. 

Wallenstein, 272 ; his former skill 
and his character and appearance, 
273 ; takes Holstein, 274 ; siege 
of Stralsund, 275 ; removal, 277 ; 
mode of living, 278 ; recalled, 289 ; 
treachery, 295 ; death, 296 ; sum- 
mary, 298. 

Walter von der Vogelweide, 147. 

Walter Fiirst of Uri, 169. 

War of Liberation, 447 

Warsaw, alliance at, 370. 

Washington, election of Frederick, 
14 ; compared with Arminius, 15, 
i5. 

Waterloo, 464. 

Wechlau, Treaty of, 314. 

Weinsberg, 124. 

Weissenberg, 517; triumph of Ger- 
mans at, 5 1 8. 

Wellington, Duke of, 434. 

Wends in time of Charlemagne ; of 
Charles the Fat, 54. 



Index. 



60 1 



Wenzel III., 174. 

Wenzel, Emperor, his dreadful char- 
acter, 186 ; insanity and death, 
18S. 

Werner Stauffacher, 169. 

Westphalia, Peace of, 303. 

White Mountain, battle of, 267. 

Wieland, 409. 

Wildbad, 510. 

Wilhelmina, 351 ; death, 389. 

William of Holland, 153 ; reign and 
death of, 154. 

William Tell, 168. 

William of Hesse-Cassel, 283. 

William I., disapproval of weak 
measures, 477 ; anger of people 
against, 478 ; regent, 485 ; crowned 
King of Prussia, 487 ; proclama- 
tion Austro-Prussian War, 49S ; 
at Koniggratz, 500 ; supported by 
able princes, 506 ; skill in Austro- 
Prussian War, 506 ; goes to Ems 
and meets Benedetti, 510; visits 
mother's tomb at Charlottenburg, 
516 ; his bearing after Sedan, 527 ; 
returns to Berlin as Emperor, and 
repairs to Charlottenburg ; mes- 
sage to Empress, 539 ; final entry 
with troops into Berlin, 540 ; con- 
cerning infallibility, 547 ; attempt 
on his life, 556 ; ninetieth birthday, 
555; last sickness, 558; death; 
retrospect of his life, 560, 



William II. declared Emperor, 564 ; 
admiration of Bismarck, 564 ; life 
as prince and regime, 566 ; first 
speeches after accession ; his mar- 
riage, 567 ; trouble with the Great 
Chancellor, 568 ; as social re- 
former, 569 ; speech before Reichs- 
tag, 577 ; journey to Holy Land, 
578; domestic life, 578, 580; life 
at Potsdam and at Berlin, 581. 

Wimpffen, 525. 

Windhorst, Dr., 548, 573. 

Windischgratz, 479. 

Wittgenstein, 538. 

Wittikind, 39. 

Woden, god of Aryans, 10 ; god of 
Celts, II. 

Wohlgemuth, 212 

Wolfgang of Neuberg, 256. 

Wolfram von Eschenbach, 160. 

Worth, 519. 

Wrangel, 302. 

Wrede, General, 457. 

Wiirtemberg, 537. 

Wyckliffe, his death, 190. 

York, General, 447. 

Zacharias, Pope, 31. 
Zieten, General, 387. 
Ziska, 194. 
Zollverein, 505. 
Zorndorf, 388. 
Zwingli, 249. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



Conquest of Cimbrii by Marius at Vercellae loi B.C. 

Varus conquered by Arminius 7 a.d. 

Beginning of Barbarian migrations 375 a.d. 

Theodosius the Great's death 395 a.d. 

Alaric in Rome 410 a.d. 

Vandals sactc Rome 455 a.d. 

Fall of Western Empire 476 A.D. 

Death of Theodoric the Great 526 a.d. 

End of Barbarian migrations 570 A d. 

Charlemagne crowned 800 a.d. 

Treaty of Verdun 843 a.d. 

Death of Henry the Fowler 936 a.d. 

Coronation of Otto the Great as Emperor 962 .^.d. 

Scene at Canossa between Hildebrand and Henry IV 1077 a.d. 

Crusades 1096-1270 a.d. 

Frederick Barbarossa, Emperor 11 52 a.d. 

Beginning of Interregnum 1268 a.d. 

Rudolf of Hapsburg 1273 a.d. 

Battle of Sempach 1386 a.d. 

Fall of the Eastern Empire i453 a.d. 

Luther posts the Theses Aug. 31, 1517 a.d. 

Luther before the Diet at Worms .\pril 17, 1521 a.d. 

Beginning of Thirty Years' War 1618 a.d. 

Peace of Westphalia 1648 a.d. 

Death of Great Elector of Brandenburg 1688 a.d. 

Establishment of Prussia as a Kingdom 1 701 a.d. 

Birth of Frederick the Great 1712 a.d. 

603 



6o4 Chronological Table 

Francis II. lays down crown of Holy Roman Empire . Aug. 6, 1806 a.d. 

Beginning of War of Liberation 1S12 a.d. 

Battle of Leipsic Oct. 16-19, 1S13 a.d. 

Battle of Waterloo June 18, 1815 a.d. 

Austro-Prussian War 1866 A.D. 

Battle of Koniggratz July 3, 1S66 A.D. 

Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871 A.D. 

Battle of Sedan Sept. i, 1870 a.d. 

Siege of Paris begins Sept. 19, 1870 a.d. 

Founding of German Empire Jan. 18, 1871 A.D. 

Treaty of Peace after Franco-Prussian War signed . . Feb. 26, 1871 a.d. 

Death of William I '. March 9, 1888 A.D. 

Death of Frederick III June 25, 1888 a.d. 

William II. Emperor June 25, 1888 a.d. 



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